Hello to everyone
Any thoughts on this? Qing dynasty? Or not Chinese at all?
best wishes
Monika
Are those crickets?! I heard somewhere that crickets are cherished in China and symbols of luck, and appeared in pottery, but this is the very first time I have seen any in design.
Look forward to Peter's or Stan's input. Kaaren
This is modern, that is 1950s or later.
In the Qing dynasty the concept of a country named "China" did not yet exist in China, in feudal times countries were an estate belonging to the emperor or king.
"China" was used by foreign countries and also on marks of some export items.
The Chinese characters for "China", used in China during the republic period, was 中國 (traditional Chinese) and changed to 中囯 (simplified Chinese ) after the communist takeover.
Thus it is cannot be older than the second half of 20th century.
"Are those crickets?"
Yes, they are. You may encounter antique 'cricket porcelain boxes' for keeping them. They look similar to soap boxes, except that they have holes in the lid. Cricket boxes/containers also were made of other materials. The crickets were/are kept like pets. There is a variation of crickets which is quite big, perhaps double the size of those I saw in other places, like Europe.
And, it seems that they view the containers as their home. They apparently don't run when the lid is off, staying inside or near it even when open.
Fascinating. Thanks for the additional info! Kaaren
How fascinating - thank you to you both :)