MID-LATE 17TH CENTURY

This blanc-de-chine model of a qin may be unique, and was most likely for a scholar's desk as a representation of 'playing the qin,' one of the four accomplishments of a scholar. Because of its small size, and the fact that it does not have a sounding board, it is unlikely that it was ever meant to be played, unlike blanc-de-chine flutes which were also made during the 17th century. Two of these, vertical flutes (xiao) imitating bamboo flutes, from the collection of Professor Cheng Te-k'un, which are said to be tuned to the pitch of d', the fundamental used during the Ming dynasty, are illustrated by P.J. Donnelly, Blanc de Chine, New York/Washington, 1969, pl. 68A and p. 126. Another from the Koger Collection in the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, is illustrated by J. Ayers, Blanc de Chine - Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute Gallery, New York, 2002, p. 72, no. 23. And another in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 408, no. 818.