A BAMBOO-ROOT CARVING OF A FINGER CITRON 17TH CENTURY |

carved fully in the round, issuing from an openwork stem bearing a leaf and an attendant fruit, its tendrils extending from the main body in two concentric circles, their hook-like ends curling inward, the bamboo of a smooth patina, carved wood stand 

Skilfully carved following the natural gnarled and knotted form of the bamboo root, sculptures such as this were favoured objects for appreciation and contemplation adorning the scholar’s desk. These carvings were valued both as plays on form – ripe fruits and leaves now immutable in wood – and for the auspicious nature of their subject. In China, the finger citron is known as the ‘Buddha’s hand’ fruit due to its resemblance to the idealised fingers of the Buddha, and the word itself, foshou, sounds similar to the characters fu, meaning ‘blessings’ and ‘riches’, and shou, ‘longevity’. Compare a slightly larger finger citron from the collection of Dr Ho Shun-fung, illustrated in Ip Yee & Laurence C. S. Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving: Part I, Hong Kong, 1978, pl. 28, together with a much larger example from the collection of Dr Ip Yee, pl. 2, and a smaller carving inscribed with the name Tianzhang, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, pl. 29.