Object #9 Indian Back Scratcher

I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.

-Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980)

I imagine this once belonging to a gentleman in Jaisalamier, perhaps it lay at his side as he sat lazily in the summer bedroom of his haveli. As a merchant perhaps he brought it with him as he traveled by caravan transporting goods across the Thar Desert. The small knife to peel a fruit after a long day on the camel, the skewer to brown some piece of lamb over the fire.

The palm of the hand with long lines of wealth and health and the pinky finger with a ring.

Object #8 Charcoal Package

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.

-Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

Few places understand packaging as well as the Japanese. At its best it is the perfect combination of protection, presentation and beauty. This example is a late 19th - early 20th century straw-wrapped presentation of charcoal with a perfectly placed window in the wrapping which frames the end grain of a single piece of charcoal.

The Japanese continue to excel at packaging, the best of which generally falls into two categories; clean and designed within an inch of its life, and then cute. The following examples are juice boxes for banana, strawberry, kiwi and milk by the Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa. They lean towards the cute side, but are still quite clever and do exactly what packaging is suppose to do.

via: packaging of the world.com & toxel.com

The cover of the book How to Wrap Five Eggs. A good book with traditional wrappings and presentations. If your interested I've got an amazon link to it in my Books I Like box below.

Object #7 Stanley Folding Ruler

“What is God? He is length, width, height & depth.”

-"Book of Consideration", St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

A folding rule (officially a No. 40 carpenter's caliper 6 inch two fold rule) made of "German" silver and ivory.
Manufactured by The Stanley Rule and Level Company between 1888 and 1922.

 
Nickel silver is a metal alloy of copper, nickel and zinc.  Developed in China where it is called paktong, was introduced into Europe in the 19th cenutry and the first examples came from Germany giving rise to the Western name.

Object #6 Fetal Rat

"Lord God of test-tube and blueprint

Who jointed molecules of dust and shook them till their name was Adam,

Who taught worms and stars how they could live together…"

-Norman Corwin

From the prayer from "On a Note Of Triumph"

A stained fetal rat from a scientist and friend who uses the rats in his cancer research. The almost fully developed beautiful bone structure has been stained to better show the bones. Red where bone have developed and blue-purple where there is cartilage or not fully developed bone. Not everyone cup of tea, but…