Vintage Shiwan Green Glazed Earthware Chopstick Holder | Wall Pocket popular Planter Vase

Vintage Chinese Shiwan Ceramic Wall Pocket Planter/Vase/Chopstick Holder.
Made from heavy earthenware with a deep popular green glaze.

Chopsticks are very significant accessories in China and are often included in a bride's dowry because the word for chopstick (kuaizi) is also a pun that means “speedy arrival on sons. ” The top of the wall pocket chopsticks container has baizi qiansun, a phrase meaning “a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons.” Below is a low relief design of an upside-down bat holding a coin with a ribbon. An upside-down bat symbolizes that “blessings have arrived” while a bat carrying a coin on a ribbon is a rebus for “blessings in front of your eyes” (fuzai yanqian). The bottom appears to be pair of dragons that symbolizes a state of conjugal fidelity, considered a cornerstone of Confucian philosophy.
Not only for chopsticks, this wall hanging container can hold plants, utensils, dried flowers, pens, and other objects to keep handy. The piece is in very good condition with minor surface fading consistent with age and use.

• D I M E N S I O N S •
7 3/8” Long/Tall
5” Wide
2 1/2” Deep

History Sources:
•Terese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, San Francisco, Asian Art Museum, 2006.
•Fredrikke S. Scollard and Terese Tse Bartholomew, Shiwan Ceramics: Beauty, Color and Passion, San Francisco, The Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco, 1994.