Black and Gold Lacquer Antique Chinoiserie String Holder Box baseball player carving This sort of chainstitch embroidery

This sort of chainstitch embroidery

it is beautifully made and has a great presence--as much as a sculpture as a functional vase

7 3/8" tall x 4 7/8" across at widest (lip)

and how useful for so many purposes

exuberant stubble

Black and Gold Lacquer Antique Chinoiserie String Holder Box baseball player carving This sort of chainstitch embroideryI've found a very close match of this lovely small lacquer string holder that describes it (with some authority) as English Victorian era Chinoiserie, late 19th or very early 20th century. Made of lacquered papier mache, it features wonderful gold toned decoration, different on all sides, depicting figures engaged in a variety of scenes, including one figure smoking from a pipe, another holding a fan, another reading, and another who appears to be