Small bamboo container which was used as a cricket cage. The Chinese love the sound of a cricket and the Cricket Culture in China encompasses a 2000 year history of both singing insects and fighting crickets. Chinese gentlemen would carry small cricket cages in their wide sleeves so that they could enjoy the chirping at any given moment of the day. But even now crickets are a favorite of many aficionados and most of the large Chinese cities still have a thriving market for singing insects where crickets can be bought. This cage is made of bamboo and has an ivory screw-top inlaid with a breathing window made of tortoise shell finely carved in the shape of magpies in a blossoming plum tree. This is a popular motif in China and represents the saying 'May your joy reach as high as your eyebrows (Xishang meishao)'. The magpies 'xique' are birds of joy and the plum 'mei' is a pun for 'eyebrows' while the top of the plum tree 'mei shao' is a pun for 'top of one's eyebrows'. The five petals of a plum flower also represent the Five Blessings, Old age, Health, Wealth, Love of Virtue and a Peaceful death. The bottom of this cricket cage has a small screw cap which can be removed to feed the crickets. We are not sure how old this cricket cage is but it is in excellent condition. Height 7.8 cm. Diameter 2.8 cm.