Collection Online as of October 2, 2023

Clip for Paper with Sage Seated Under a Pine

1600s or 1700s

Pu Zhongqian 濮仲謙

(Chinese, active 1600s)

China, Ming dynasty

(1368–1644)

Carved bamboo

Overall: 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.)

Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1977.8

Location

not on view

Description

In China, access to political power was granted to those who passed the civil service examinations, a system that offered official service only at a high level of education. Chinese literati-officials whose daily routine was administrative work in an office, enjoyed precious objects on their writing desks that offered distraction and demonstrated good taste. By the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, these utensils of the literati studio became also collectibles and were treasured as artworks.

Desk objects included paper weights, seals and seal paste boxes, brush rests, wrist rests, brush holders, water droppers, ink cakes, miniature mountains, and albums, all ranging in material from jade, gilt bronze, lacquer, and wood to porcelain.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed by the artist

Provenance

?–1964

Sir Percival David [1892–1964], London, England, by descent to his wife Lady David

1964–1976?

Lady Sheila Jane Yorke Hardy David [1914–?], London, England

14 December 1976

(Sotheby's, London, 14 December, 1976, lot 234, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1977–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Sotheby's London. Early Chinese Ceramics; Sung, Ming and Ch'ing Wares; Lacquer; Works of Art. December 14, 1976. Lot 234.

Ip, Yee, and Laurence C. S. Tam. Chinese Bamboo Carving [中國竹刻藝術 = Zhongguo Zhu Ke Yi Shu]. Hong Kong: Urban Council, 1978. Reproduced: cat. no. 22, p. 171, pl. 10

Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1977.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 1 (1978): 2–42. Mentioned: no. 135, p. 42 www.jstor.org

Williams, Marjorie. Chinese Painting--an Escape from the "Dusty" World. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: fig. 42, p. 61

Wang, Shixiang, and Wango H. C. Weng. Bamboo Carving of China. New York: China House Gallery, China Institute in America, 1983. Reproduced: cat. no. 4

Exhibition history

Bamboo Carving of China. China House Gallery, China Institute in America, New York, NY (March 18-May 29, 1983); Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (July 24-September 11, 1983); Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (October 3, 1983-January 15, 1984).

Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).

Chinese Bamboo Carving. Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China (organizer) (October 14, 1978-January 7, 1979).

Chinese Paintings: Themes and Techniques. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 7-April 5, 1981).

Scholar's Studio. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19-December 17, 1989).

Chaekgeori: Pleasure of Possessions in Korean Painted Screens. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 5-November 5, 2017).

China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).