A ruyi (sceptre) with a later wooden stand. The sceptre in bronze, of traditional arched, tapering form, with a turned-over lingzhi-shaped head, a lobed, oblong panel in the centre and lobed, oval panel at the bottom, each filled with a plaque of carved rose quartz, the head with peaches and a bat, the centre with a Buddha’s hand citron, and the last with a peach spray. The shaft decorated on both faces with formalised scrollwork in colours on a turquoise ground. Ruyi are a Chinese symbol of authority.

Text adapted from Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: Volume III.