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Curios

curio… any unusual article, object of art, etc., valued as a curiosity (1851, shortened from curiosity)

curiosity… anything curious, rare, or strange
a curious, rare or novel thing

The Victorians sustained a passion for collecting that has not abated since the death of the Great Queen and Empress. In most fashionable homes you would find a curio cabinet housing objects of special interest. Often these were things of human artifice, works of art, works of utility, or just novelties, collected from the far-flung reaches of the Empire. But it was not only Victoria’s subjects who brought home curios. Citizens of all countries, including the United States, who traveled abroad for education, trade, service or simply for pleasure, brought home their treasures and regaled their acquaintances with strange stories and curious displays.

There are collectors for everything imaginable, and probably for everything unimaginable as well. A curio cabinet might feature objects from a single domain such as knives from around the world (daggers, stilettos, kukris, kris, etc), or carved ivories (chess men, figurines, letter openers, Chinese balls, etc), or it may contain a hodge-podge of artifacts from different domains. Nor were cabinets limited to works of art or utility. Commonly they held curiosities of Nature (always capitalized in the Romantic Victorian mind). Oologists collected birds’ eggs, malacologists collected shells, ladies collected strange pebbles, or fossils. There were two-headed monkeys, dried sea horses, and of course the ever popular, ever mystifying, chimeras.

With a courteous bow to Charles Dickens, we call our virtual curio cabinet The Old Curiosity Shop. In it we display a miscellany of artifacts that defy easy classification and will not fall readily into any other category. Here you will find curiosities mostly old and antique, some very old, some less old; things curious, some very curious, some less so; things that would always have been curious and some that are curious to us because their original functions have been lost in time, or because their plenitude has disappeared and they are now rarities. Browse the list and check us out from time to time – there will always be something strange or amusing!

Please click on photos to see enlargements


Item #EA-04-JL3346A  ANTIQUE CARVED ROSEWOOD CRICKET CAGE

SOLD

Price: $82 US ($95 CDN) plus shipping and handling
Quantity: 1
Dimensions: length 6 ½” (including cap), 2 ½” diameter
Description: Late 19th C (Qing Dynasty) carved rosewood cricket cage featuring two finely depicted dragons – emblems of good luck. Crickets were popular pets in China. Unlike our own ground crickets, these were tree crickets – more like our katydids. They were collected by children and brought to the local park in summer evenings when the crickets would call to each other in chorus.
Condition: The condition of this curious item is perfect. A fine collectable, conversation piece!
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Item #EA-04-RA4188 PAPUA NEW GUINEA CARVED COCONUT SHELL

SOLD

coconut RA4188 a.JPG (38723 bytes) Price: $73 US ($85 CDN) plus shipping and handling
Quantity: 1
Dimensions: length 6 ½”, diameter 5”
Description: Mid 20th C carved coconut shell from the Middle Ramu River valley. This curious object is a spiritual voice distortion chamber used by a village elder to disguise his voice during initiation ceremonies. The end of the shell depicts the face of a spirit presence, perhaps an ancestor, with arms raised beside the ears. The top of the shell bears a fine reticulated carving suggesting a tall, elaborate headdress. The Middle Ramu River area remains one of the least known parts of PNG and perhaps the most inaccessible.                                

Condition: Perfect. What a strange piece!

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Item #EA-04-AAG6816 NEOLITHIC NECKLACE, OSTRICH SHELL BEADS
ncklace AAG6816 a.JPG (31340 bytes) Price: $150 US ($165 CDN) plus shipping and handling
Quantity: 1
Dimensions: length 27” (forming a loop of 13 ½”)
Description: This remarkable south Sahara necklace is believed to be about 4,000 years old – which would make it our oldest “antique”! It is composed of many (very many) beads approximately ¼” in diameter, give or take a bit, strung on a fiber thread. I assume the thread is somewhat more recent. The beads were carefully cut from fragments of an ostrich eggshell and drilled for threading. Condition: is excellent. This is surely unique, not something that we are ever likely to be able to offer again!
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Item #EA-04-JL3346B ANTIQUE CARVED ROSEWOOD CRICKET CAGE

SOLD

cage JL-B 3346 a.JPG (22030 bytes) Price: $124 US ($145 CDN) plus shipping and handling
Quantity: 1
Dimensions: length 5 ¼” (including cap), 2 ½” diameter
Description: Qing Dynasty, c1850, carved rosewood cricket cage featuring two exceptionally well rendered dragons – emblems of good luck. Crickets were popular pets in China. Unlike our own ground crickets, these were tree crickets – more like our katydids. They were collected by children and brought to the local park in summer evenings when the crickets would call to each other in chorus.
Condition: The condition of this curious item is perfect. A fine collectable, conversation piece!
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Item #EA-04-YY7217 ANTIQUE TIBETAN CEREMONIAL BELL HAT

SOLD

hat YY7217 a.JPG (49899 bytes) Price: $102 US ($120 CDN) plus shipping and handling
Quantity: 1
Dimensions: length approximately 10” and height 8”
Description: Brightly colored and intricately worked, this hat is in the form of Tibetan Monastery roof with woolen pom-poms on the corners. It is ornamented with appliquéd gold and silver threads, sequins, beads, tassels, decorativ metal disks, various amulets, three small bells, and a row of eleven Buddha figures! Let the pictures do the talking for me. 
Condition: The condition is very good but it is missing one silk tassel and, of course, some of the metal pieces have a few dings – not surprising in a thing about 125 – 150 years old. Make no mistake, this is a super, decorative item.
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Item #EA 04-JM2 19th CENTURY HAT MOLD
hat mold 2a.JPG (14542 bytes) Price:  $75 US ($95 CDN) plus shipping and handling
Quantity:  1
Dimensions:  length 9¼”, width 8”, depth 4½”
Description:  wooden hat mold featuring a deeply sloped front rim extending almost to the back where it is stepped and slightly raised. Above the front rim there is a large rounded crescent and above that the smoothly domed crown. The wood was stained a dark brown, almost black, and has a smooth polished luster.
Condition:  excellent; the mold was made in three pieces and age has shrunk them slightly so that the joins are visible, but this does not detract from the piece.
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Item #EA-02-2744 BLACK LACQUER SNUFF BOX
mache snuffbox a.JPG (13441 bytes) Price:  $40 US ($50 CDN) plus shipping and handling.
Quantity:  1
Dimensions:  length 3½”, width 2”, depth ¾”
Description:  Black lacquered Victorian papier maché snuff box with a initials TT scratched inside lid.
Condition:  excellent.
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Item #EA-02-5712 INLAID VICTORIAN SNUFF BOX

SOLD

inlaid snuffbox a.JPG (15163 bytes) Price:  $90 US ($115 CDN) plus shipping and handling.
Quantity:  1
Dimensions:  diameter 2¼”, depth 1”
Description:  Round black snuff box finely inlaid with brass and iridescent shell.
Condition:  excellent.
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Item #EA-02-2471 VICTORIAN SHELL PURSE

SOLD

shell purse a.JPG (13978 bytes) Price:  $60 US ($75 CDN) plus shipping and handling.
Quantity:  1
Dimensions:  length 3½”, width ¾”, depth 1½”
Description:  Polished natural mussel shell fitted with a brass hinge, brass snap catch and fine brass carrying chain. Inside is lined and compartmented with red paper trimmed yellow.
Condition:  excellent.
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