Wonderful Hand-Carved Marble Drum Stool (?) with Variety of Flowers old metal buttons into which painted glass "eyes"

into which painted glass "eyes" (pieces of glass painted black and white) were inserted (one is in place

with what looks like Liu—which I have not been able to trace

who commissioned it specifically

except for L

so one could I guess use it as a cap gun yet

Wonderful Hand-Carved Marble Drum Stool (?) with Variety of Flowers old metal buttons into which painted glass "eyes"I really love this, but am not sure where it came from or exactly how it was intended to be used. The form, and the motifs circling top and bottom, suggest a Chinese marble "drum stool", traditionally used as as a resting spot in a Chinese garden, but this is about half the size of a stool one would sit on, and the carving of the flowers. especially, looks very much like folk art (and really very much like the school girl drawings of flowers I like so