CHINESE, LATE 19TH CENTURY

细节

A CRIB SHEET
CHINESE, LATE 19TH CENTURY
painted with minute 'fly's head' mandarin characters
16.5in. (42cm.) x 15in. (38cm.)

来源

An Australian Collection.

注意事项

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

拍品专文

Crib sheets such as this were used by unscrupulous or desperate students to cheat in the official competitions for entry as a mandarin into the Chinese court as civil servants. The entrance exams were held once a year in the Forbidden City and lasted for three days, during which time the students were sequestered. If found with such a crib sheet, the student would be 'turned out' and expelled.

See The Imperial Wardrobe, The Linda Wrigglesworth Collection, New York March 2008, lot 124, for a similar crib sheet.