A light green jade scepter with two silk tassels equal in length to each other and to the scepter, and hang from the end of the scepter. The scepter is mounted on a rectangular wooden base with three metal supports holding the scepter flat. When lying on the mount, the scepter has a slight "S" curve like the human spine. The end with the tassels is narrower, and widens at the end where it curls up and over itself to a flat medallion. The scepter is carved with scroll designs. The silk tassels are a burnt-orange attached to the handle by two jade-colored short, triple silk cords. The cords become woven squares that have knots at the end from which the tassels hang.
Chinese
Scepter (Ruyi),
early 18th century
Jade with silk tassels
,
44 cm (17 5/16 in.)
Object details
Accession number
S15w13
Primary Creator
Chinese
Full title
Scepter (Ruyi)
Creation Date
early 18th century
Provenance
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the collector of antiquities A.D. Vorce, Jr. (d. 1894?), Philadelphia for about $245 on 22 May 1893.
Dimensions
44 cm (17 5/16 in.)
Display Media
Jade with silk tassels
Web Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
Permanent Gallery Location
Early Italian Room
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 102. (as Chinese, early 18th century)
Yasuko Horioka et al. Oriental and Islamic Art: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1975), pp. 39-40, no. 16a. (as Chinese, early 18th century)
Rights and reproductions
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Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.