Antique Whiting Sterling Silver Tea Ball 132 w/ Chain and Ring Sleigh Bell Form

Description

Here is a nice tea ball in an unusual form.  This is a ball about 1 1/8" in diameter that has two opposite sides pushed in like you would see in a sleigh bell or single bell.  You expect this piece to have a ball to serve as a bell.  However, it doesn't but the ball opens to serve as the tea holder.  Each half has a row of star shaped holes and then a set of slits with a central hole on the dimpled sides.  Marked with the old Whiting Mark Sterling and 132.  Chain and ring measure 3 1/4" long.  Total weight is 14g.  Overall very good condition one small ding that I can find, a very little off roundabout still firm closure.
Been selling this type of thing for 30 years and don't know that I have seen this simple shape before.