Chinese silver mystery object

[admin]

Hi All,
I've had this for a couple of years and it has me stumped. Obviously meant to hang from the S hook, the pierced outer sleeve can slide up the chain to give access to the inner hollow tube (which has a sealed bottom). There are a few strands of what appear to be human hair in the tube, have no idea if they were meant to be there or not. The pierced hexagonal sleeve is 2 3/4 inches long x 3/4 inch diameter.
Can anyone identify the purpose of this Chinese silver object?

Thanks, Tom

[JLDoggett]

My first guess would be a sleeve weight, with a place to hold scent. is the bead amber or carnelian?
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[admin]

JLD,
I'm not good with stones, but I'd guess carnelian. It does not pick up a static charge and I believe that amber does, yes?
A vinaigrette seems very plausible. I'm not familiar with sleeve weights, but the overall length of 8 inches strikes me as unwieldy for the purpose, one dramatic gesture and a mandarin could do untold damage in an environment filled with Ming vases.

Regards, Tom
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[2209patrick]

Hi Tom.

Amber does pick up a static charge.
Just teated an amber stem fron an old meerschaum pipe that I have.

Any marks on the piece ?

Pat.
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[JLDoggett]

Sleeve weights were used, mostly by women, as the name suggests, to hold the flowing sleeves in place. As the arm was raised, the long point of the sleeve would stay down. As for it being 8" long, in the picture it appars shorter. if the case is 2.75" I would have guessed it's overall length to be 6"+- then again it is not laying straight. For most women 5-6" would be the maximun size, 8" would have been a man's.

As for dramatic jestures that would be very poor form and might lead to a present of yellow silk from a higher official.

Yes, amber does build a static charne if stroked with wool or silk.
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[2209patrick]

Chatelaines often had cases for scissors, needles and thimbles.
Maybe this is a case that holds thread ?



Pat.
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[dognose]

Hi,

I also have a piece that has me foxed, and I was wondering if it served the same purpose.



As you can see with the top off there is a link that presumably attached to a chain (now missing) that passed through the tube which is open at the other end. It is a total of 4 3/4" in length. Appears to be silver and no marks.

Trev.

[2209patrick]

A case for carrying needles ?

Pat.
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[admin]

Patrick,
I followed your lead and found a couple of other examples online. Completely different in design, but identical in engineering. Have to admit that I liked JLD's idea of a vinaigrette best, but so far, there is more evidence for a needle case. I also removed one of the hair strands to see if it was actually thread, but on applying a flame, it singed and smelled like hair, seems the container's last use was as a keepsake.
Regards,
Tom
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[dragonflywink]

Silk burns to ash and smells like hair, used to do a lot of quilting and fiber art, that's how I'd determine if my vintage fabrics were silk.

~Cheryl
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[2209patrick]

I'm still wondering why they went to all this trouble in design for a needle case.
Why not just make a tube like Trev posted pictures of.
Certainly that would be more manageable hanging from a chatelaine.

I'm thinking the inside of the tube did hold needles and the outside acted as a spool for thread (possibly silk).

Pat.
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[admin]

Hi Cheryl,
Also no filaments in the strand, solid through and through. I should also have mentioned that the strands were only inch long snippets, no use in sewing.

At a glance, I took Trev's piece to be a needle case, but then noticed the chain loop on the interior of the cap. Can't see a the reason for that in a needle case. I'm wondering if cylindrical snuff containers were ever used? The interior loop would be ideal for a little snuff spoon to hang inside the sleeve.

Regards, Tom
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[JLDoggett]

The reason I go with sleeve weight and vinaigrette is that form should follow function. put your needles in this case (appears to be made in the early to mid 1800's) and you have a good way to lose some expensive needles, since I can picture them coming out the hole that the chain passes through. Moreover you would have a hard time getting them in and out of the case as there does not appear to be much clearence when it is opened.

Taking snuff from such a case would be very messy, indeed. I do agree that a thread case would make sense.
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[Doos]

Hi,

Maybe it was a memento mori type case. Hair was also used in European jewelry in the late 1700's through the 19th century.
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[admin]

Hi All,
In the interest of due diligence, I've spent some time exploring the possible uses of the item as regards the suggestions posted here.

It is a good size for holding needles, I loaded a group of varied sizes. The length of chain gives just enough clearance for the inner tube to be angled a full 90 degrees once it is slid out of the casing. This allows for both easy loading and removal of the needles.

I also wore it through a workday suspended from my belt and lost none of the contents, even during a couple of experimental jumping jacks (the video is on YouTube).

It spent an hour pinned to my sleeve, irritating as hell - the hour was all I could stand, but it did do an adequate job of stopping rollback. Given the design of Chinese robes, its proximity to the hand would have been much more distant and far less annoying.

A civilization as old as the Chinese must have copped on to the idea of multitask objects eons ago. I believe it is a needle case, it could have been meant to hang from a chatelaine or, just as well, served double duty as an extra useful sleeve weight.

Thanks for all of the ideas.
Regards,
Tom

ps. forgot to add, the diameter of the inner tube is small enough to spool an 1/8 inch thick layer of thread around it and leave it room enough to pass into the opening of the outer casing.
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