Provincial Chinese Wooden Headrest, circa 1850

Made of Chinese northern elmwood, this smooth block of wood was once used by an upper-class woman as a headrest. The soft curve and height of the block not only supported her head an...

Crafted of painted, lacquered hide, this extraordinary headrest was created in China's Jiangxi province over 150 years ago. Its pliable design enabled contour comfort - quite luxurio...

This round folding mirror dates to the mid-19th century and would have accompanied a well-to-do woman on her travels. The wooden frame is carved with simple scrollwork at the hinge and includes a flat cover that props the mirror upright when open. Beautifully aged and full of character, we love this humble traveling mirror...

To keep her elaborate hairstyle intact while sleeping, a well-to-do Qing-dynasty woman would use a rigid headrest or neck pillow to keep her head elevated. Whether functional or pure...

A very beautiful, rare, and exotic Chinese dragon landline telephone, circa 1980s-1990s. Phone is a hard carved wood with all the details of a dragon (claws, tongue, horns, tail, etc.) Phone handle has a beautiful oval piece of polished emerald green jade or other similar stone along with carvings in Chinese. A 'red' light on top of dragon's pearl indicates phone is 'on'. Dragon's green eyes light up when phone rings...

Beautifully carved Qing dynasty tea caddy from Elmwood (yumu), with floral motifs and finished with an oxblood color lacquer. The large size is very usual and was used in a large family compound. The tea caddy is designed to hold and keep warm, large tea pot filled with tea. The tea pot’s spout comes out the front opening for pouring. The horizontal bar used as the container’s handle has a pivoting lock when open, the handle bar can be removed and closing of the pivoting lock, the handle is secure for use. The wooden tea caddy...

This Ching Dynasty carved polychrome seated altar god is a representation of Guan Yu. Guan Yu was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu ...

Timor Island sculpted wooden traditional mask (circa 1970s) on contemporary metal stand. This is a traditional mask of a figure with male facial features and two holes as eyes and another for the mouth with a handle below the face. The island of Timor gave rise to a distinctive practice of creating traditional masks whose precise origins and significance remain uncertain. Portraying both male and female ancestors, they were held by men during dances and other ceremonies, including celebrations of victory in war. Carved sculptures and masks are specific to rural villages. Here the practice of animism, or nature-worship, is incorporated with the carving of ancestral statues and masks, which have a ritualistic function. Some occasions that call for these ceremonies may include asking for successful crop planting, for prosperity, for good weather...