Skip to main content
Collections Menu
SAM'S collection
Image Not Available for Ruyi scepter in fungus shape
Ruyi scepter in fungus shape
Image Not Available for Ruyi scepter in fungus shape

Ruyi scepter in fungus shape

Label TextScepters were ceremonial objects held along the arm to indicate one’s authority, but were also marks of elegance from the late 16th century onwards. Ming period ruyi were often of wood, naturalistically carved to resemble the lingzhi, a type of fungus believed able to confer immortality.
Object number60.27
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Pure Amusements: Wealth, Leisure, and Culture in Late Imperial China, Dec. 24, 2016 - May 15, 2022.
Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
DimensionsL.: 19 3/4 in.
MediumRoot
Ruyi scepter
Chinese
19th century
Object number: 33.1263
Ruyi scepter
Chinese
18th century
Object number: 47.163
Chinese
1000-1644
Object number: 33.1262
Chinese
1644-1911
Object number: 33.1269
Photo: Paul Macapia
Chinese
ca. 2000 B.C.
Object number: 33.1887
Japanese
19th century
Object number: 98.47.42
Amulet in the shape of boar's head and shoulders
Sumerian
4th millennium B.C.
Object number: 41.111
Photo: Paul Macapia
Chinese
13th - 11th century B.C.
Object number: 43.9
Bronze altar (ex-voto)
Chinese
ca. 505
Object number: 50.156
Ceremonial set of carpenter's tools
Japanese
Object number: 34.80