Cocoon Tiger from Ting's Gift Shop

1.75" x 0.75" x 0.5"

Ting’s Gift Shop was founded in 1958 by Tam Ting and continues to operate to this day in its original location in New York City’s Chinatown. Tam Ting became known locally for selling items from all over the world that were both unique and often of limited quantity, many of which were gathered on her travels to Thailand, China, Africa, and Japan, among other places. She would wrap and carry each item back from a given location in her suitcase to be displayed in the eclectic densely populated retail environment, which foregrounded her taste, special properties she saw in each object, and the way she envisioned them living with other things. 

In the 1980s Ting's began carrying these cocoon tigers, which are a traditional Chinese folk toy. Each tiger is made by hand out of a silk cocoon, within which is a small clay ball. When the tiger is placed in your palm, it will perform a trick, flipping over with a slight forward and backward rocking of your hand, as the weight of the clay ball inside shifts.