An Inscribed Gold and Silver-Inlaid Iron Ruyi Sceptre By Zhang Aochun, Ming Dynasty, Tianqi Period, Dated in Accordance with 1622

the long body curving elegantly from the top to the tip, the quatrefoil head attached to a curving, strap-like upper shaft, decorated with an inlaid gold and silver design, the head with a central yin-yang symbol surrounded by the bagua ('Eight Trigrams'), all enclosed within a quatrefoil border, the upper shaft decorated on both sides with a stylised archaistic wave design, the front of the lower shaft with Daoist diagrams, flanking a zhuanshu inscription followed by Sun Shenxing zhiyong (‘Made use of by Sun Shenxing’), the reverse of the shaft inscribed in zhuanshu Tianqi renxu Zhang Aochun zhi (‘Made by Zhang Aochun in the renxu year of the Tianqi reign.’), the inscription flanked by an upper panel of the sun and moon and a constellation, and a lower panel of Daoist characters and symbols, the tail of the shaft drilled to hold a loose ring in copper

Collection of Mrs. Walter Sedgwick (1883-1967), London.

Soame Jenyns and William Watson, Chinese Art. The Minor Arts, vol. 2, London, 1965, no. 70.
The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, Taipei, April, 1984, no. 13, p. 86.

There is general surface wear and scratching to the body, and minor areas of loss to inlays, but overall good condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Ruyi sceptres bearing Zhang Aochun marks are extremely rare, and it is particularly outstanding to find two late Ming sceptres, one from the Wanli period, the other from the Tianqi period.  Presented alongside the Qianlong period copy, these three ruyi sceptres (see lots 222 and 227) comprise a distinct group that throws light on the development of bronze workmanship in the late Ming and Qing dynasties.

The current ruyi, dated to 1622, is closely related to another example in the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, Toronto, illustrated by Sheila Riddell, Dated Chinese Antiquities 600 - 1650, London, 1979, p. 148, fig. 137, where she notes that Zhang Aochun is 'on record as having specialized in the making of iron ruyi sceptres, inlaid with gold and silver.  One of his principal customers was the grand censor, Zhao Nanxing...'

Zhao Nanxing (1550-1627) was a high official minister of state, who rose to become Grand Censor. He is celebrated for his integrity and outspokenness. It seems that in 1610, Zhao Nanxing wrote a poem about a ruyi sceptre, which inspired the present example and that in 1622, it prompted a series of similar sceptres. The poem can be translated as:

            'Its hook has no barb;

            It is upright without giving injury.

            With it, sing and dance;

            If it disapproves it will break.

This is [truly] the implement of a gentleman'.

Interestingly, like the current sceptre, the Royal Ontario Museum example is also inscribed for the use of Sun Shenxing, no doubt inspired by the model made for Zhao Nanxing, who also an original patron.

For a related late Ming iron sceptre with beaten silver and gold decoration, but not of the same series, see Li Chu-tsing Li and James Watt, The Chinese Scholar's Studio.  Artistic Life in the Late Ming Period - an Exhibition From the Shanghai Museum, Asia Society, New York, 1987, cat. no. 67.