Interesting Small Knotted Horsehair Brush old wooden box It's a bit confusing

It's a bit confusing

they measure: 3" tall

circa 1920s-40s or so

to their lined up little toes

The fixed handle is carved wood--notched just above and just below the lip

Interesting Small Knotted Horsehair Brush old wooden box It's a bit confusingI think it is possible that this is a fly whisk or a horsetail whisk brush, which from what I understand are common to Asia, both as tokens of Taoism (shooing away evils) and with the practical function of brushing away the flies, mosquitoes. etc. But I am not certain! What made me fall in love with it is the construction, with each small bunch of horsehair carefully knotted onto what appears to be thread, which wraps around what appears to be a thin