Such root-form display stands or arm rests were favored by literati and scholars, and can be found in numerous paintings depicting scholar-scenes from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The use of natural-form furniture implies that the scholar has abandoned traditional, manufactured accoutrement in favor of the fruits of nature. Compare the present arm rest or display stand with another, similar example, illustrated by G.Tsang and H. Moss in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 77, no. 37.