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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Shangas, post: 366588, member: 360&quot;]Looks like brass to me, and yes, a very cute dragon. The dragon is an important mythical creature in Chinese culture. It&#039;s a benevolent guardian which protects the peasantry and brings rainfall to farmers so that their crops may grow. </p><p><br /></p><p>There was a sizable Chinese community in California in the 1840s, 50s, and 60s, one of the first large-scale Chinese settlements in America at the time. They came for the gold-rush, and then even MORE came to build the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s. Originally, Irish labourers were hired to dig the tunnels and lay the tracks, etc, but they quit in disgust. The railroad bosses hired the Chinese, almost as a joke, but soon the entire eastern-advancing railroad crew was Chinese. When the tracks were joined at Promontory Point in Utah, each half of the tracks were laid by men from both sides - one American, one Chinese. </p><p><br /></p><p>Could this have been from one of those early migrant Chinese communities, in like, San Francisco, or nearby? I think it likely. Where? I couldn&#039;t say, but I do think that&#039;s probably when this would date from.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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