Ancient Safe Deposit Box

Safe deposit box is a type of safe usually holds things such as valuable; gold, currency or important documents such as wills or property deeds that a person might feel afraid to leave at home due to fear of theft, fire of other reasons. In ancient time, most businessman would have a safe deposit box at home for them to hold their valuable.

Ancient Chinese Food Basket

The Chinese designed an elaborate array of wooden and woven baskets to carry and store things. Some were styled around specific uses -- picnics, carrying fish, rice, or water. Some were used for special occasions like carrying "sweets" to a wedding party or a Chinese New Year celebration.

Ancient Italian Wine Container (Wine Bottle)

This is not a vase nor decorative ceramics. This is wine container from Italy, made in 1978.

"No poem was ever written by a drinker of water," the great Roman poet, Horace wrote. People have enjoyed drinking wine for thousands of years ever since its ancient origins in Mesopotamia, near present-day Iran. Italian and French wines are amongst the best and Italy is the largest producer of wine. This makes sense because the Romans made the most contributions to the ancient art of viniculture.

The Greeks, who settled in southern Italy and Sicily, exported the art of wine-growing to Italy. They were so impressed with the mild Italian climate which was perfect for producing wines that they called Italy, Oenotria, or the land of trained vines.

The Etruscans, who settled in central Italy, also produced wines. The Romans improved the techniques that the Greeks and Etruscans used.

Demand for wine increased greatly with the population explosion in Rome from 300B.C. to the beginning of the Christian era. It increased to over one million people and, as even the slaves drank wine, much more wine had to be produced.

Ancient Rice Measurer (Rice Gauge)

This is not a normal steel drum, it was used by the rice seller to measure rice in the ancient time. Filled up the drum is 1 gantang (Malay unit measurement) of rice.

In measuring amount by volume, the common unit is gantang, which is equivalent to an Imperial gallon. A gantang can be divided into four chupak. Chupak can be further divided into four chentong, and two chentong makes up a leng.

Chentong is also normally used only in certain areas, and so eight leng makes up a chupak.

When used to measure unhusked rice, a gantang weights about 4 to 5 lb.

Ancient Chinese Shoe

This shoe is not mean for children. It is only 7 inches long shoe where Ancient Chinese ladies use for 'foot binding' to 3 inches foot.

The general purpose of foot binding was to restrict the growth of the feet so that they would not exceed 3-4 inches. Small feet were considered beautiful and elegant. A foot measuring a perfect three inches was called a 'lotus of gold'; a four-inch foot was considered 'silver'; and one measuring more than four inches was an 'iron lotus'.

Thus the process normally began when a girl was between the age of three to eleven years old, the justification being that the pre-bone cartilage of the arch, which was predominantly water, would be more easily molded than matured bone. The mothers or more experienced female relatives who performed the foot binding were at least thoughtful enough to carry it out in late fall or winter when the foot was generally numb so that the pain would not be so severe.