CHINESE, LATE 19TH CENTURY

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.