Vase
17th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The fingered citron, called 'foshou' (Buddha's hand) in Chinese, is a fruit that has a bitter taste but a pleasing smell.. It was therefore used as a room fragrance rather than a food. For centuries the fingered citron had occupied a place in the living room or bed chamber. A copy of the fruit in jade would have been visually much more attractive. Although the jade version emitted no fragrance, the remedy was to put powdered incense inside the vase.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Nephrite jade, carved |
| Brief description | Scu, China, carving, jade |
| Physical description | Pale greenish-white jade carved in the form of fingered-citrons, with foliage, large and a small fruit with finely-carved fingers providing two receptacles |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Credit line | Wells bequest |
| Object history | Bequeathed by Arthur Wells, accessioned in 1882. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The fingered citron, called 'foshou' (Buddha's hand) in Chinese, is a fruit that has a bitter taste but a pleasing smell.. It was therefore used as a room fragrance rather than a food. For centuries the fingered citron had occupied a place in the living room or bed chamber. A copy of the fruit in jade would have been visually much more attractive. Although the jade version emitted no fragrance, the remedy was to put powdered incense inside the vase. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1685-1882 |
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| Record created | March 14, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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