Antique Chinese Wedding Basket, Early 20th Century

Item Details

An antique (1890-1920 approx) three tiered, stacking hand woven and hand crafted ceremonial basket (wedding/ ceremonies/travel) from very early 20th century China. Primarily lacquered elm wood and tightly woven bamboo. Baskets like this were stuffed with homemade treats for the wedding or ceremonial party and often were used for travel. This box is complete with hanging ornamentation so that food was not disturbed during ox cart and rickshaw trips. The handle allowed the basket to sway without upsetting the internal food items. Each was hand painted or lacquered with a unique design. This box has a paneled design with remnants of hand painted designs of birds and Chinese characters including a pair of straight 90 degree arm Buddhist Gammadion Crosses (Ancient Sanskrit Swastika) woven into the handle to ward off evil. The swastika is a sacred and auspicious symbol in Buddhism. Items in this size were scarce.

Dimensions

Item #

16DAL067-175