H x W x D: 20.6 x 6.3 x 1.6 cm (8 1/8 x 2 1/2 x 5/8 in)
Type:
Tool and Equipment
Origin:
China
Date:
First half nineteenth century
Period:
Qing dynasty
Description:
Pair of wrist rests carved in the shape of a section of bamboo. Carved in very low relief on the convex side is an image of two small birds perched on reed. On the concave side, in high and mid-relief carving, is a scene of two egrets in a lotus pond with reeds and a dragon fly.
Label:
This ivory wrist rest is a calligrapher's tool. When used as an aid in writing, it is placed flat on a table with the convex surface upward. The device can be used to cover still wet lines of calligraphy from accidental smuding by the author's wrist or sleeves as he continues to work, and in the case of writing small calligraphy, it can be used to support and steady the calligrapher's wrist. Wrist rests are also decorations for a scholar's desk, and when one is carved as delicately on the underside as this one, it is likely that it was intended more as a decorative piece than as a functional object. Rests like this were often fitted with stands and displayed vertically.
The shape of this wrist rest imitates a section of bamboo. It was a fashionable practice to employ luxury materials such as ivory to imitate less expensive materials. The carved decoration is made up of superimposed motifs, creating a deep visual field. This scene with egrets and lotus flowers is a standard symbol in China for scholarly advancement.
Provenance:
To 1975
Mr. and Mrs. Milton Turner, Bethesda, Maryland. [1]
From 1975 to 1992
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Turner, Bethesda, Maryland. [2]
From 1992
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, transferred from the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC [3]
Notes:
[1] See copies of gift receipt and correspondence between Milton and Lilian Turner and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. See “United States National Museum Accession Memorandum” time stamped January 24, 1975, copy in object file. See also Curatorial Remark 3 in the object record.
[2] See note 1.
[3] The object was transferred from the Department of Mineralogy of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. See “Custody Receipt” and “Acquisition Consideration Form”, copies in object file.
Collection:
National Museum of Asian Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Les trois reves du mandarin (October 22, 2009 to February 14, 2010)
The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)
Previous custodian or owner:
Mr. and Mrs. Milton Turner
National Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution
