Chinese antique carved wood and cloth sleeve what is it??

[Hugosmom]

This is an oval carved wood box with a cotton sleeve. The seller marked it 19th century. I did not pay $380 BTW, or anywhere near that 😀. What is it?

 

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[GibH]

Just out of curiosity, I ran a few searches. I found this on a Russian antique weaponry forum. I used google translate and this is what someone had to say about that symbol:



Can't help with the box, I hope it wasn't supposed to be someone's ashes

 

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[islamoradamark]

Maybe you can make socks with it