Socketed Tube Coupler

Socketed tube coupler with beading at contiguous ends. Holes for securing pins. Reddish brown bronze inlaid with silver. Inlay design based on geometric patterns emphasizing volutes. Inlay technique of silver used in sheets cut to pattern and in threads. Lower beading connected with a tiger applied in relief; the animal head is used to open the gate and then to lock the coupler. The representational modeling of this tiger is probably the finest of the type yet known. Condition: Generally good, one end of a coupler is cracked. Cleaned by Joseph Ternback, Forest Hills NY