Name: Medium Opium Scale
Item#: 1429
Medium-sized, authentic, beautiful-patina wooden scale used for weighing opium. The Laos government is encouraging its people to move to other forms of farming, including animal husbandry, so some of these tools are being sold by their owners. This opium scale has a hand-carved wooden case in the shape of a violin with a sliding rattan ring to hold it shut, made to specification to hold its own; carved brass (or copper - can't tell without scratching the patina) weight, a metal plate, the usual Yao design of 3 strings with which to suspend the scale, and a measuring stick made of elephant bone with weight markings carved in and stained from the measurement of opium. A beautifully fashioned tool for an out-of-business trade.
Size: 14 in. x 3.5 in.
Origins: Luang Prabang, Laos
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