A CHINESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE 'FOUR ARTS' SCROLL WEIGHT

A CHINESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE 'FOUR ARTS' SCROLL WEIGHT
INCISED FOUR-CHARACTER QIANLONG MARK BUT PROBABLY LATER

255g, 9cm.

Formed as a qin wrapped in brocade cloth, together with a weiqi board, a book and scrolls, tied together with a ribbon.

The design of the weight combines the elements of the siyi (the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar), which comprises qin, qi (also known as weiqi, or go, a board game), shu (calligraphy), and hua (painting). Traditionally, these were the four main accomplishments required of any refined literati in China.