Chinese Carpenter's Plumb Line

Gold-touched fret patterns glint on a reddish front, with a stubby knob at one end.

This carpenter's plumb line is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is wood. Made of wood, a tool of this type is generally small enough to hold in one hand, and gravity does the work of finding the true vertical. Reddish-brown box with a stepped key-fret pattern on the front panel, traced with traces of yellow paint. A round handle projects at the left, a spool sits in the top, and a bent wire hangs below. It is 7 inches wide, 4 deep and 3.25 high.

A glint of gilt on an otherwise sober frame.