Minneapolis Institute of Art

StorageTube

Tsun-chiang

Date

either 1670 or 1730

Medium

Tzu-t'an hardwood inlaid with silver wire

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This round tzu-t'an tube with its screw-on fu-dog top could have been used to store exotic incense sticks, a favorite writing brush, special chopsticks, or more likely cricket-tickling sticks. Unfortunately, the long, carefully inlaid inscription provides no clue as to the container's exact purpose. It reads in part: In the distance is a misty grove -- viewing the spring colors in Chiang-nan Everything here is worth remembering. The sorrows of rivers and mountains have not been thoroughly tasted... In the sunset under the willow trees, in whose courtyard am I in tying up the horse's reigns? It is signed Tsun-chiang mo-ku (in imitation of the ancient) with a cyclical date of keng-hsu corresponding to either 1670 or 1730. While very few inlayers of wood are recorded, silver-wire inlay is a characteristically Chinese art practice. This exquisitely crafted tube is a rare signed and dated literati object, however, and is thought to be unique. China, Asia

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