ANOTHER PROPERTY A NANMU RUYI SCEPTER TOGETHER WITH A HONGMU HIDDEN-FRONT MINIATURE 'MEDICINE' CHESTQing dynasty, 18th/19th century The nanmu (cedar) ruyi scepter of richly patinated yellowish brown color with a stylized lingzhi head carved in low relief to one side and with incised decoration to the reverse, with a long curved bowed handle with a central ridge and simple incised line decoration to the edge; together with a miniature hongmu 'medicine' chest, with a shaped handle to the top and cushion-molded lifting panel to the front, the edges are joined by exposed dovetails, with signs of applied strengthening surface metalwork, the front opening to reveal three hongmu-fronted drawers, two short and one long, with tielimu-linings, the fronts also of hongmu with tielimu drawer linings, each with oval pendant handles retained by split pins. The scepter: 16 7/8in (43cm) long; the chest: 5 1/4in (13.3cm) wide (2). 清 十八或十九世紀 楠木如意及袖珍紅木插門式藥箱 Provenance: The chest: Private collection, Denver, Colorado Published: The scepter: Nicholas Grindley March 2005 Catalogue , no. 18 來源： 藥箱：科羅拉多州丹佛市私人收藏 出版： 如意：《Nicholas Grindley 2005年3月圖錄》，圖版18 The origin of the ruyi scepter is obscure although most of the later representations take this form of lingzhi fungus. According to the, ' Encyclopedia Sinica ', the 13th century writer Zhao Xigu (1170-1242) believed that they were originally made of iron and used to point the way and alternatively for self defense. It is a Daoist longevity symbol, thus making it an ideal gift, especially for birthdays, but also as a token of the wish 'what one wants' ( ruyi ). A ruyi might be carried around as an elegant and auspicious plaything giving a symbol of authority to its owner. Aparable zhazhenmu ruyi scepter was included in Nicholas Grindley March 2002, Catalogue , no. 12, and is now in the Vok Collection exhibited at the Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst in Koln and illustrated in the catalogue of the Vok Collection entitled 'Pure Form' by Nicholas Grindley with an essay by Florian Hufnagl, 2004. An earlier huamu and zitan example of this type of box was illustrated by M. D. Flacks Ltd. in their catalogue ' Classical Chinese Furniture IV , Spring 2001, no. 15.