Vintage Chinese carved fruit pit Hedaio bead depicting monkey. 1 pc. B7-wo285

The miniature folk art of fruit pit carving has been practiced in China for centuries. These are mid-20th century skillfully carved playful figural beads depicting a monkey holding fruit, Very nicely carved and polished. These were purchased in Hong Kong in the early 1970's. Carvings with this level of handwork are not being produced today. Each is individually hand carved and so vary slightly in size and detail. Average size is 32 x 15 mm.