(刻明月千里清代竹編提籃）This special old Chinese square bamboo woven stacking basket with handle is a rare piece with its unique lid that is made of one piece of bamboo pressed to form a large flat sheet of surface. This flat sheet of bamboo is called Zhu-Huang (竹黃, Bamboo-Yellow) as the name refers to the yellow color of the smooth sheet of bamboo surface. The four corners of the lid are fitted with wonderful old brass fitting with an auspicious bat and coin design that represents the Fu-Lu (福祿，Blessing and wealth) of the Fu-Lu-Shou (福祿壽) , the three aspects of life's prosperity in Chinese culture. The Shou (壽) represents Longevity. The two sides of the broad bamboo handle are carved with commonly seen Daoist motives such as fan, flute, lotus flower, etc. the basket comes with a fitted long brass locking stick that locks the basket tiers from moving when traveling. The original lock for the stick is gone but can possibly be refitted with another small old Chinese lock. There is a small crack on the lid as seen on photo.

The four characters carved and painted in black on the lid read as “明月千里”or “千里明月”, literally can be translated as “bright moon over a thousand miles”, a poetic phrase that can be found from the poem of “水調歌頭“ by Song Dynasty poet Wang-Zhi-Dao (王之道) , from the phrase of “明月千里滿西樓, the bright moonlight shines over a thousand miles and filled the west pavilion”. It is not known if the original phrase did come fromWang-Zhi-Dao's poem. Other earlier poets from other Dynasties have also written many famous and beautiful poems with moon as a subject that elicits poet's sorrow or longing for loved ones. Out of the many famous poets who wrote about moon, of course, Tang Dynasty poet Li-Bo (also pronounced Li-Bai) “李白“, Du-Fu (杜甫), and Zhang-Jiu-Ling (張九齡），and also Song Dynasty poet Su-Shi (蘇軾，蘇東坡), have all written beautiful phrases about moon that have lasted till today and remain most popular and familiar to many Chinese. Below are some examples for those who enjoy reading classical Chinese works. Phrases by Li-Bo (Li-Bai) “舉杯邀明月，對影成三人”translated here as “I raise my cup and toast to the moon; myself, the moon, and my shadow become three companions”. Phrases by Zhang-Jiu-Ling “海上生明月，天涯共此時“，translated here as “Out of the sea rising the bright moon; you and I share this moment apart from the world's end”. And here's one by Si-Dong-Po (Su-Shi) that works for the time we are in now “ 但願人長久，千里共嬋娟”, translated as “Wishing the beloved ones stay healthy and forever; From a thousand miles apart, here we share the comfort of viewing the same moon”. “嬋娟” is a classical term in Chinese for Moon.

Old basket like this one was probably used for storing personal belongings, such as a lady's embroidery tools, makeup items, hair pin and combs, or any other small personal daily or intimate objects. This basket is likely from the late 19th to early 20th century.

Dimensions: 10 1/4” x 10 7/8” 16” H

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