Vintage Miao Hmong Hill Tribe Northern Thailand Textile Fabric 苗族

Over the last week I have been clearing out my closets and going through various boxes of stuff to list items on eBay so I can get rid of the things I no longer have interest in, need, have a use for or just don't want, and then I can use the extra cash to buy something I do want,  such as more Asian art or antiques, etc.

  So, here I was yesterday afternoon going through an old box of stuff when I pulled out this old textile fabric that I have had for the last 16 months, yet I had no clue whatsoever what it was until yesterday.  It used to belong to my next door neighbor who left it outside with a box of other stuff after she finished having a yard sale, and since she was giving it away for free, I decided to take it home since I had an interest in making things with my sewing machine.  

I was contemplating on whether or not it was an item that would be of interest to anyone on eBay, so I began using Google to research and try to identify it, and well, it's just my stroke of luck that it happens to be a textiles fabric hand made by the Hmong people, an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.  Hmong are a subgroup of Miao 苗族..   Maybe it was my intuition, but I'm happy I decided to take it home even though at the time I had no idea that it was Asian

While I can't accurately ascertain which country this fabric originated, nor can I even date it, looking around and reading about Hmong textiles, it appears likely that it's from the Northern Thailand Hmong, which are often referred to as the Hill Tribe. So, since I identified it as Asian in origin and having read quite a bit online about Hmong people, I have decided that I should keep it as part of my collection of Asian art, and now instead of keeping it in a box, it is proudly displayed as a wall hanging. :)

You can read about the Hmong people on Wikipedia.  I find this very interesting and fascinating.  It's always a great learning experience to discover and learn about different cultures and people.

Chinese Qing Dynasty Brass Coins

I recently sold a book on eBay and since I had some extra cash in my PayPal account I decided to use those funds to go shopping on eBay.   Among the items I purchased were these Chinese brass coins of the Qing Dynasty, however, they are not genuine Qing Dynasty coins, but copies, or commemorative coins.  Some would call them "fakes", however, the listing made no claims of them being genuine and listed them as being "Archaize" which basically is a way of saying "imitation of ancient" so since they were not being sold as genuine ancient Chinese coins, they're not fakes since there was no deception involved, and besides, my total cost was only $1.34 with free shipping and I really like them.   I just think they're cool. :)

Surely there's no collector value in them, but they're very nice objects that are well made and offered some real educational value since I began looking up information about old Chinese coins to learn more about them.

One of the websites I enjoy reading is Ancient Chinese Charms and Coins, which I find very interesting, even fascinating, and now I have an increased interest in old Chinese coins, so hope to someday have genuine ancient Chinese coins in my collection.   . 

The three coins are, from left to right, kang xi tong bao (康熙通宝) , qian long tong bao (乾隆通宝). & yong zheng tong bao (雍正通宝)

Here's the reverse side of these Chinese brass coins, which is different than what's found on actual genuine Chinese coins, which are typically made out of bronze, not brass

Japanese Kutani Sake Bottle - 九谷 酒瓶

 I just got this Japanese sake bottle today.  It is Kutani and has calligraphy on it, presumably also signed by the artist, however, I have not been able to translate it, nor can I make out the hanko seal, so have no idea who the artist is or if the calligraphy contains a date or not.   My best guess is that this Kutani sake bottle is mid to 3rd quarter 20th century made... 1950s to 1970s, but it could be newer than that, unlikely older.

I know the bottom character is san/yama 山, but I'm not sure what the first kanji is, however, I was informed by a third party that the seal looks like it reads 高山, Takayama.   I haven't been able to narrow this down to any specific artist, however, there is a city in Japan named Takayama which has several sake breweries, so perhaps this sake bottle was made by/for them, or as a product to be sold in tourist shops in Takayama, Japan.   I'm having difficulty figuring this one out, so if you know, I'd greatly appreciate your help.