CHINA, WARRING STATES PERIOD OR LATER

When reading, studying, or conversing outdoors with friends and colleagues, Chinese gentlemen of ancient times often sat on mats of woven bamboo strips, the four corners of the unfurled mat anchored with matching animal-shaped weights to prevent the mat from folding back on itself if animated by a breeze or a shift in the gentleman’s position.

Compare the silver and gold-inlaid bronze weight in the form of a tortoise dated to the late Warring States period-Western Han dynasty, 3rd-2nd century BC, from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2010, lot 907.