Ming Scholar’s Paperweight in the Form of a Reclining Lady

This fine solid cast and chased bronze weight is of a reclining lady with her head resting on her raised right hand. Her hair is tied into an elaborate bun. Her left hand holds a small ruyi sceptre. Her back rests against a drinking gourd.

Her dress is that of a Ming noble woman. She has an elaborate stylised cloud collar, and her robes fall in long pleats over her legs and feet.

A related example is illustrated in Bromberg (2025, p. 81).

Such weights charmingly combine design with the utilitarian, in a way which conforms with the Confucian aesthetic with its emphasis on scholarship, and which drew upon the natural world to present the harmonious co-existence of man with nature. Such weights were ideal for the scholar’s desk where they might both perform a function and be the subject of contemplation.

The example here is in fine condition.