Strange object, I have no idea what it is. It came to us along with a curved stem sort of opium pipe, same metal, same designs (see also in this category) - but this piece is either part of something, or maybe something missing. It is a long stem, with a wooden ball (with a side hole drilled into it) at one end, and a removable metal cap at the other which exposes a wooden tube with a central drilled hole. The centre of the item has a metal cage affair, and you can pull the item apart here to expose a metal blade and a much shorter small round metal probe beside this. Maybe the blade is to clean out the pipe ( if this is what the whole thing is). Or to cut up the opium?? It could possibly be part of the other item we have - if you blow through the hole in the wooden bowl, you can feel it in the blade cavity, but not at the other end of the tube. Whole thing measures 39.5 cm long and the wooden ball is 5 cm diameter (and has two chips off the wood flange at the top). We're selling this on behalf of a local charity, so have no history or explanation for it.

Asian Antiques
Asian Decorative Arts