Chinese Carpenter's Plumb Line

A dark carved box with a spool, a crank wire, and a tangle of string.

This carpenter's plumb line is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is wood. A plumb line is a cord with a weight at its end, used since ancient times to establish a true vertical when building and framing. Low, stepped base in near-black brown, carved with scrolling leaves along the front. A round spool sits at one end with string wound about it, a bent wire handle trails to the side, and a small round well opens at the other end. It is 7 inches wide, 5.5 deep and 3.5 high.

Compact machinery, lovingly fussed over by someone.