Object details
Accession number
M15w14
Primary Creator
Chinese
Full title
Scepter (Ruyi)
Creation Date
late 18th century
Provenance
Entered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection by about 1919.
Marks
Set in (the third lapis lazuli plaque): a lotus plant and a heron (a Chinese rebus meaning, May you cimb up in one journey over all honors)
Dimensions
51 cm (20 1/16 in.)
Display Media
Gilded and chased metal with lapis lazuli plaques
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. 102-03. (as Chinese, late 18th century)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 8, no. 13 (29 Nov. 1964), p. 2. (as "judged to be" 18th century)
Yasuko Horioka et al. Oriental and Islamic Art: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1975), pp. 39-41, no. 16b. (as Chinese, late 18th century)
Rights and reproductions
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