Wrist rest decorated with an ear of corn and ladybug

This wrist rest is an excellent example of bamboo carving by Jin Xiya, the finest bamboo artist active in twentieth-century China. It showcases Jin’s virtuosic command of traditional bamboo carving as well as his creative experimentation. The artist has not only meticulously conveyed the varied textures of the stalk, leaves, and kernels, but by varying the density of striations between the broad lines of a leaf and the denser lines of the sheaf around the ear of corn, he has also conveyed a sense of overlapping forms. He has further enlivened his compositions by adding insects—a ladybug on the tassel of one ear of corn. Although it is based on a design contributed by the artist’s brother Jin Cheng (1876–1926), as indicated in the inscriptions, the decision to adopt such an unusual subject and its perfect translation onto bamboo are clear reflections of Jin Xiya’s creative personality.

According to the archival list of Jin’s works (wrist rest #26), the bamboo carving was completed on December 16, 1924.