Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

These are objects collected by, given to, or worn by Joseph Needham, Dorothy Needham and Lu Gwei-Djen. Objects given to the Needham Research Institute are catalogued as NRI 1

Scope and Contents A stick of Chinese ink presented to Joseph Needham by Peking University (Beijing da xue) in April 1946. The stick is imprinted with the characters in gold 朱子家訓. The side of the stick has the maker’s name, Wang Chunshan 汪春山製. The underside of the stick has the text from the zhu zi jia xun 朱子家訓 in tiny characters. The lid of the cloth box has the handwritten inscription to Joseph Needham 李約瑟博士惠存 國立北京大學敬贈. On the bottom of the box is also handwritten 三十五年一月十五日得於北京琉璃廠求譽齋.This was...

Scope and Contents

A stick of Chinese ink given to Joseph Needham by the historian Zhang Zigao 張子高 (1886-1976). The stick has a cloud decoration in gold, with the characters 千秋光 in blue in the upper half and a maker’s inscription 徽歙曹素功來孫堯千造 in the lower half. The green cloth box has the handwritten inscription 李約瑟先生請玩 張子高贈 on the underside of the lid.

Scope and Contents

A stick of Chinese ink given to Joseph Needham by E.H. Hokes from Czechoslovakia. The stick has gold edging decoration, and the characters 千秋光 in gold. The underside is decorated with a traditional Chinese picture of a Chinese scholar underneath a pine tree, with gold characters in seal script. The side has the maker’s inscription 徽州老胡開文廣戶氏製. The paper card box has the name of the donor inside the lid.

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Ink stick 1 on top has the maker’s designation 徽歙堯千氏監,製, on one side the Chinese characters 曹素功監製, and on the other 法龍 in gold letters, with a dragon entwined underneath around the pillar.

Ink stick 2 has a hole through the top for hanging, and the Chinese characters 松友齋周永[寧]監製 written on it.

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There is no label on the bottle.

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The ink stick is held in a plain wooden box inlaid with yellow silk. The date 1980 is inscribed on one side of the stick with Chinese characters 博雅 in gold, with a seal imprint in red, and silver decoration around the edges. The other side has a pearl-like object embedded near the top, below it the characters 樂在書中 in gold, with similar decoration around the edges. One sided edge has in gold 徽州胡開文, the other 深圳博雅特製千禧墨.

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The tin is made from copper, the sides and top treated with zinc to form a brass coating. It is engraved on the lid with archaic Chinese characters in red, and depictions of two archaic ritual vessels, a he 盉 pouring vessel , and a ding 鼎 container. The underside bears the maker’s seal Rongbao 榮寶。