Fancy Antique Treen Darning Egg antique Japanese sake bottle I would not have known

I would not have known their purpose had it not been explained to me by the owner of this shop

with one very tiny barely there sailing ship in the far distance at right in addition to the one nearer afield at left

making me think a bit of gothic gargoyles

The box does not clasp

6" long x 3 1/2 tall not including tail (5 1/8" tall with tail)

Fancy Antique Treen Darning Egg antique Japanese sake bottle I would not have knownThough I haven't darned a thing in my life, I just can't resist these fancy inlaid treen darning eggs when I come across them so pretty, great to hold, and a perfect thing to build a collection of in all their variety. And while I've seen a fair number patterned with two different woods, I haven't seen many with three, which this appears to be, in what I think's a pretty great design. I'm not totally sure the age or origin of this one, but might guess