AN EXTREMELY RARE AND EXCEPTIONAL GILT-BRONZE PASTE-INSET ABACUS QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD |

lavishly constructed, the rectangular frame divided into an upper and lower deck with a beam, the beam and frame surmounted by an undulating band and adorned at each of the four corners with a florette inset with red and green paste, each deck with twelve rods piercing through bean counters, each counter of compressed globular form and centred with a brilliant multi-coloured crystal and paste-inset band, all within a frieze of twenty-eight further florettes bordering the outer edge of the frame

Bonhams Hong Kong, 27th November 2014, lot 126.

This superb quality abacus assumes a new identity as both a tool and an artwork in its own right through the use of the Western-inspired technique of glass-paste inlay. It conveys the wealth and opulence of the Qianlong period and the great variety of materials and artisans available at the Emperor’s disposal. Such elaborate glass paste-inset decorated instruments are rare, and the current example appears to be unique. The abacus, suanpan (counting tray), was an essential instrument for every merchant, trader and clerk in ancient China. While the earliest known record of this device dates back to circa 1st century B.C. as documented in Zhoubi Suanjin [Arithmetical Classic of the Gnomon and the Circular Paths of Heaven], the present rectangular form featuring two decks and eleven rods appears to have been in use since the Ming dynasty. For a further discussion of the history and use of the Chinese abacus, see 'The Abacus', Orientations, September 1970, vol. 1, no. 9, p. 46.