Paperweights in the shape of crabs
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.In the fourteenth century, bronze artists excelled at casting not only vessels with archaic designs but also diverse sculptural objects. Fused together after more than six hundred years underground, these two crabs originally functioned separately as paperweights. Their apparent ability to scuttle away—evoked by the accurately defined pincers and legs—must have been a source of amusement and delight for their owner.
Artwork Details
- 元 銅雙蟹（福建南平窖藏出土）
- Title: Paperweights in the shape of crabs
- Period: Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
- Date: 14th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Copper alloy
- Dimensions: H. 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm); L. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Lent by Fujian Provincial Museum, Fuzhou
- Rights and Reproduction: Photograph courtesy of Fujian Provincial Museum, Fuzhou
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art