IMMEDIATE – PROFESSIONALLY PACKED – FULLY INSURED – SHIPPING
Buyer pays NOTHING for professional packing and insured shipping.(That is for U.S. LOWER 48 only. Elsewhere in our solar system – See ’s Intergalactic Calculator.) All Customs forms will state actual selling price of items shipped internationally.
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How is it possible for someone with a somewhat exaggerated fondness for all things antique to have had this intriguing pair of early Chinese objects for near one-half century and still know so little about them?
Well I am that “someone,†and my lack of specific information about them is not because I haven’t tried. I have reached out to several people over the years, but it seems I didn’t reach out to the right people. However, there are a few facts to which I can testify and guarantee.
The first two of these facts are their weight and dimensions.
Both measure 3 ½†tall and 3 ½†in diameter at the belly – 90.1 mm.
More striking is the weight of each. One weighs 2 lbs. 1.9 oz, and the other weighs 2 lbs. 2.2 ounces, making each approximately 510 grams.
Both were made with a hole, much like a giant bead, measuring approximately ½†at both its top and bottom. The holes are glazed on the inside, as far as I can tell. Two bats, one on either side of the top hole, traditionally represent “prosperity, good fortune†and other good things.
The bottoms are unglazed, but each carries a mark in red. Export mark?
I’m sure you have noticed they are not perfect. Frankly, that has been part of their charm. We’ve had them displayed on shelves in the library; sitting on a table; etc. But for several years we suspended them from cords with tassels.
Those aren’t the tassels we used those many years ago, but they are similar.
Here is another fact: They will become the topic of conversation whenever your guests have even a cursory interest in antiques. No one is able to resist picking them up for a feel of the surface, which includes raised beads that form a top and bottom border.
The rest of the description with more pictures continues below this memo about my two “Prime Directives:”
First: I never, under any circumstances, use a reserve, and everything starts at $9, sometimes even less. I never end auctions early.
Second: I rarely clean, repair, or otherwise monkey around with anything. Normally I push enough dust aside to note any flaws, but if I discovered it in some dusty attic, you can look forward to a little dust on it when it gets to your house. If it has a flaw or a wart, I’ll tell you about it.
So rest easy and have some fun. Why not place a little tiny bid right now so’s you don’t forget about it later.
If forced to guess at their age, I’d guess they are early Qing Dynasty – perhaps around 1700 AD. However, that would be merely the guess of someone with fifty years under his belt in the buying, collecting and selling of “general line antiques and collectibles,†and not by someone with any more than a shallow surface of knowledge of Chinese ceramics.
The rest of the images are below simply so you can see them all the way ‘round. Each weight has four “characters†inside a 1-1/8†circle.
Could they be weights for a huge tapestry? Or maybe for gigantic curtains? Or are they “units for measuring mass?†Those are questions I cannot answer.
One more fact: You will be absolutely thrilled. If not, and you live in the U.S., I’ll refund 100% and even pay return shipping.
Have fun bidding, and . . .
GOOD LUCK
My preferred method of payment is PayPal.
Buyer pays NOTHING for professional packing and insured shipping.(That is for U.S. LOWER 48 only. Elsewhere in our solar system – See ’s Intergalactic Calculator.) All Customs forms will state actual selling price of items shipped internationally.
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