Protection from poison in the food
Rare Antique Korean silver tipped chopsticks
During the Korean Joseon ( also called Choson or Yi) Dynasty, 1392–1910, wealthy and politically important people were concerned about protecting themselves from from being poisoned. The poison of choice back in that day was arsenic. The wealthy used silver in various ways to detect the presence of the poison. Silver tarnishes quickly when it touches arsenic sulfides. Examples of utensils designed to detect the poison were small knives made of or bearing silver decoration, chopsticks or spoons made of silver and most interesting because of their rarity, metal chopsticks that were tipped with silver and spoons with inlaid silver designs in the bowl.
Rare set
As per custom among antique collectors, these chopsticks have not been cleaned or polished. but left in their old condition, leaving it up to the new owner if they want them shiny and bright or with their old patina.
The set offered here is a rare set of silver tipped chopsticks in their handmade wooden case.
The hinge for this old case is a handmade wooden peg
This set of chopsticks and case comes with this Certificate of Origin