I didn't know it when I found it--it just looked like a lovely folk art wonder to me!--but I believe this is a Japanese Temari ball. From what I've learned, these originated in China and were introduced to Japan around the 7th century A.D., becoming a folk art form and craft, originally constructed from kimono remnants and later thread, with the brilliant colors of the thread symbolic of wishing the recipient a brilliant and happy life. I'm really not certain the age of this one but it clearly has some, with what appears to be general darkening of the neutral colored thread except in one spot. I find it quite a lovely thing, imparting a feeling of the infinite!
4” diameter. Good and stable condition, not fragile, with wear and a bit of loss to a couple of the stars, which to my eye is all to the good.
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