Antique Architectural Ornament Mold: Bat-like Curve! lacquer box with scholars and the sun's a cheerful

and the sun's a cheerful shade of yellow

strung together with an old bootlace and ready to hang on the wall as wonderfully graphic

and I am totally fascinated by it

date to the 1880s or so

Based on the context in which I found it

Antique Architectural Ornament Mold: Bat-like Curve! lacquer box with scholars and the sun's a cheerfulI see a lot of old wooden industrial molds but only occasionally do I across across ones like this, filled with a pitch wood resin mold material, and used for casting ornaments for architecture, molding and picture frames. This is the smallest of several I'm listing, which photographs don't quite do justice (I've shot it a couple of different light situations to try to give a sense) the mold itself has a really visceral presence, feeling like a cross