EG 111 · Scholar's Objects

Lacquered Qin with a Painted Landscape

Scholar's zither

A seven-string qin, the scholar's zither, its dark lacquered top painted with a landscape of figures, pavilions and trees in gold and colors. Shown lying flat.

The qin is the instrument of the Chinese scholar, played on a table for an audience of one or two. This one has been decorated along its whole length: hills, a pavilion, figures in blue and green, flowering trees, and a large red flower at either end, all on a dark, crackled lacquer ground. The strings are in place.

As a decorative object it hangs on a wall on a pair of brackets or lies on a long table. We sell it for the look of it; if you want to play it, we will tell you what we know about its condition, but we do not sell it as a concert instrument.

Described as we find it. We make no claim about age, maker or the composition of the lacquer.