A CARVED BAMBOO RUYI SCEPTER

18TH-19TH CENTURY

Details

A CARVED BAMBOO RUYI SCEPTER
18TH-19TH CENTURY
The scepter is carved in the form of lingzhi, with a large cap as the head of the scepter, with several smaller caps below, and a silk tassel knotted through the other end.
17 in. (43.2 cm.) long, inscribed Japanese box

Provenance

Kagedo Gallery, Orcas, Washington, 1993.

Literature

S. Little, Spirit Stones of China, the Ian and Susan Wilson Collection of Chinese Stones, Paintings, and Related Scholars' Objects, Chicago, 1999, no. 49.
M. Knight, 'Scholar's Objects in the Ian and Susan Wilson Collection', Orientations, May 1999, p. 51, fig. 5.

Brought to you by

Michael Bass

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

Compare with another carved bamboo ruyi scepter, illustrated in Chinese Bamboo Carving, Part I, Hong Kong, 1978, p. 105, no. 35.

The inscription on the top of the fitted Japanese box may be translated as 'An ancient bamboo ruyi in the shape of a fungus', and the reverse of the cover has an inscription that reads 'Appreciated and inscribed on an autumn day in the year of guimao (1903) during the Meiji reign, Kotani (or Kaya)', with the seals Tomasa and Kotani (or Kaya).

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