What is this?
During a trip to China with the brothers and sisters we ran across this heirloom. It’s called a “Family Ball”. It’s made of a dark jade and has 4 layers of stone inside the ball. Each layer moves independently of the others. You can see the layers in the image. There are also 12 holes drilled from the outside to the innermost core. The outer ball has a decorative facade.
The ball represents a multi-generational family. Assumedly each revolves around the generations before it. It might also mean each generation is not independent of the ones before. In any case, it’s pretty cool, and appropriate to the theme of this site.
Beautiful isn’t it?
