Chinese Carved Bone Ball Ornament, Fish Motif. Vintage hand carved ornament made of bone and decorated strung on brown woven cord with traditional Chinese knot design. Makes a wonderful gift or addition to your Chinoiserie or Christmas collection. Purchased from a Collectors Estate Sale.
The words for fish and abundance are pronounced the same in Chinese (鱼, yu) so the fish in the Chinese culture symbolizes wealth. Fish also symbolize harmony, marital happiness and reproduction because they multiply rapidly and sometimes swim in pairs.
DIMENSIONS: 2” DIA x 9.5” L
ORIGIN: Made in China for export mid to late 20th century
MATERIALS: Bone, Tusk, likely Ox or Cow bone collected by farming communities
FACTS & HISTORY: Chinese have over 5,000 years of history, containing inestimable history and culture of all the arts. So craft arts have a long and rich tradition to be celebrated. In the 18th and 19th century there was high demand from the United States, crafts people used their ancient technics to create beautiful craft arts with jade, jewelry and silver bone carving and stone artifacts specifically for export. The pieces all rich is Chinese culture, shared symbols of happiness, luck and wealth. Making them beautiful, meaningful objects to collect and very lovely gifts to give! Each piece is rare and unique, an exquisitely beautiful treasure with incredible workmanship.
In the beginning of 21st century these pieces are experiencing a tremendous resurgence in popularity after a few decades of waning interest. This phenomena has been coined Grand millennial decor, because the millennials comb through their mother's and grandmother's cast offs and mix them with modern trends to create a new decor style. Many pieces have been eagerly purchased or collected by the next generation who see their value, appreciate their quality and craftsmanship. To young collectors what's old is new again and it's the ultimate recycling!
