A VERY RARE 'IMITATION CORAL' RUYI

ANOTHER PROPERTY

Details

A VERY RARE 'IMITATION CORAL' RUYI
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

The sceptre is carved from wood and painted a deep reddish-orange in imitation of coral, sculpted in the round as an arched branch bearing a large lingzhi fungus as the head of the ruyi and smaller lingzhi heads at the opposite end forming the terminal and at the mid-section grip, the handle with a tangle of gnarled branches growing further clusters of fungus (extremity chips, several age cracks)
18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm.) long, box

Lot Essay

Compare the present lot with another ruyi of wood, lacquered with gold in imitation of gilt-bronze, included in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, exhibition, Auspicious Ju-I Scepters of China, 1995, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 72. The composition and carving style are very similar, although the Taiwan example is decorated with the Three Abundances. Cf. also coral sceptres, illustrated ibid., nos. 45-47.

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