Dou Rice Measure

This rustic container was made over a hundred years ago to measure and hold a dou of rice, a traditional Chinese unit of volume. The rice measure has a square form with tapered sides, handcrafted of elm with thin finger joinery along each corner, iron staple reinforcements and a gently arched handle. The wooden vessel is beautifully weathered from years of use, softly faded to a light brown color and timeworn texture.

At some point over the past century, splits to the wood were lovingly mended with additional iron staples in the spirit of "ju ci," the traditional Chinese art of repairing broken ceramics with iron pins and staples. Similar to Japanese kintsugi, ju ci treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object and celebrates the transformative beauty of restoration.