Photo a day challenge

23.01.2012 - "Something old"

My photo today is a picture I inherited from my Nana. My great, great Uncle was the head of an English dairy company operating in Australia in the late 1800's/ early 1900's. Every year he and his wife would have to sail back to England to report to head office. As was the trend at that time, they would stop in different countries on their voyage and buy up interesting bits and pieces. This is one of those pieces.

When the depression struck in the early 1900's, they had to sell up a lot of the things they had collected, so a call went out for family members to come and make an offer. My Nana selected a few nice pieces, amongst which was this and its pair (which my Aunt now owns, and I would love to reunite them at some point). 

I understand it is Chinese, as I have had a couple of Chinese visitors tell me that the meaning of the symbol on the stamp is Spring and someones name (I expect the artists). I understand it's made from ivory and mother of pearl.

Even though it is in need of conservation, I do love it and wish it could talk to tell me more of its history.