Wrist Rest
1983 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Chinese scholars used wrist rests while composing calligraphy. In ancient times the Chinese wrote with a brush, in vertical lines from right to left. The ink on the paper did not dry quickly enough as the writer moved from one line to the next, and the wrist rest prevented the written lines from being smeared.
Although the Chinese people seldom write with a brush nowadays the craft of bamboo carving is kept alive. Fan Yaoqing is a master of this art form.
Although the Chinese people seldom write with a brush nowadays the craft of bamboo carving is kept alive. Fan Yaoqing is a master of this art form.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Bamboo, carved |
| Brief description | Woo, China, carving, bamboo |
| Physical description | Decoration: Birds on a branch, rocks and chrysanthemums, carved in 'liu qing' (leaving the green) technique |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | Signed, dated and seals of carver at bottom right and upper left corners |
| Object history | Bought in China by Rose Kerr, AK/FED in course of trip to China to acquire 20th c. material in 1984, through the agency of Wang Shixiang |
| Production | Biographical reference: Wang Shixiang/Wan-go Weng, 'Bamboo Carving of China', China House gallery, (New York, 1983), no 85 Changzhou, Jiangsu province, CHINA |
| Summary | Chinese scholars used wrist rests while composing calligraphy. In ancient times the Chinese wrote with a brush, in vertical lines from right to left. The ink on the paper did not dry quickly enough as the writer moved from one line to the next, and the wrist rest prevented the written lines from being smeared. Although the Chinese people seldom write with a brush nowadays the craft of bamboo carving is kept alive. Fan Yaoqing is a master of this art form. |
| Bibliographic reference | Rose Kerr 'Contemporary Chinese crafts' V&A Album 4, 1985, p. 322, fig. 5
Wang Shixiang\Wan-go Weng,'Bamboo Carving of China',China House Gallery, (New York, 1983), no 85:Li Yimin(pen-name of Wang Shixiang), 'Nongmin zhudiao jia','Renmin Ribao',6.3.85:Wang Shixiang, 'Langgan lou ba geng chun yu','Wenhua yu shenghuo',5.85,15-16 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | FE.68-1984 |
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| Record created | February 12, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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