Artwork Page for Scepter in the Shape of a Ruyi Fungus

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Scepter in the Shape of a Ruyi Fungus

1700s

China, Qing dynasty

(1644-1911)
Medium
carved boxwood
Measurements
Overall: 38.1 cm (15 in.)
Credit Line
Cornelia Blakemore Warner Fund 1970.155
Public Domain
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Location
240B Chinese Decorative Arts
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Did You Know?

Boxwood is a small, slow-growing evergreen tree found in Southeast China and as far as Europe.

Description

The ruyi scepter was among the decorative items collected by the Chinese literati. It was thought that lofty and refined men of ancient times—the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove of the late 200s CE—carried ruyi scepters during the so-called pure conversations of the Daoists. The name ruyi (literally, as one wishes) conveys blessings of wish fulfillment. The fungus-shaped head is an emblem of immortality.
A boxwood carving depicts a fungus scepter, slender and winding with golden-brown undertones and a smooth, polished surface. It has a gnarled stem featuring several pierced openings and smaller mushroom-like growths. At the top, the head flares into a wide, bulbous dome covered in rounded bumps and swirling patterns. The base tapers slightly, and the overall sculpture takes the irregular form of a vertical root.

Scepter in the Shape of a Ruyi Fungus

1700s

China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

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