Antique Japanese Pair of Flat Bar Bronze Scroll Weights

Antique Japanese Pair of Flat Bar Bronze/Mix Metal Scroll Weights

Realized Value: $50.00 Regular price $85.00

Age:19th Century

Descriptive qualities& condition:

Dimensions: ¾”w x 4-3/8”L x 3-8”h.       

Represented is a beautiful pair of 19th/c Antique Japanese Scroll weights, (heavy bars used by painters and readers of scrolls). Both pieces are engraved with one continuous image of a natural motif representing a Blooming Cherry tree, Chrysanthemums, and a pair of Birds highlighted in silver. A spring poem is inscribed on the top of one weight. Both pieces have the artists stamp on the back.

Vintage Condition: Excellent as originally made. “As Is”, and retains the original craft/workmanship. Any discoloration, chipping/cracking, surface wear or structural damage noted. 

NOTE: Japanese scholar’s objects were, in a sense, the luxury goods of their time, but rather than wealth what they really represented was the physical embodiment of the scholar’s intellectual curiosity and aesthetic taste. As well as the creation of the ‘three perfections’ poetry, paintings, and calligraphy a key aspect of life as a scholar/artist was the appreciation and study of these pursuits. Scroll weights were used to weigh down a paper scroll, allowing the scholars to quietly reflect on the contents before them.