Scepter (Gui) with Miscellaneous Poems by Tao Qian (365–427 CE) (1122 or later): Art, History and Details

Scepter (Gui) with Miscellaneous Poems by Tao Qian (365–427 CE) (1122 or later) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This piece derives its shape from the ancient jade scepter known as gui. On both sides of the jade surfaces are the inscribed texts "Miscellaneous Five-Character Poems by the Jin Poet Tao Qian" engraved in minuscule characters, with a reference indicating that the piece was made by the jade workshop of the Xiuneisi Office in 1122 of the Xuanhe reign. This Northern Song attribution is, nevertheless, questionable.

Object facts

• Title: Scepter (Gui) with Miscellaneous Poems by Tao Qian (365–427 CE)
• Date: 1122 or later
• Culture: China, Possibly Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Qianlong period (1736-1795)
• Type: Jade
• Technique: translucent white jade
• Dimensions: Overall: 2.8 x 0.3 cm (1 1/8 x 1/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Song Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1960.278

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. John Lyon Collyer in memory of her mother, Mrs. G. M. G. Forman

Further reading listed by the museum

• Watt, James C. Y. Chinese Jades from Han to Chʻing. New York: Asia Society, in association with J. Weatherhill, 1980.
• Riddell, Sheila. Dated Chinese Antiquities, 600-1650. London: Faber and Faber, 1979.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.