A Chinese root sculpture, late Qing dynasty.

Reportedly acquired by the world renowned Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer Sven Hedin (1865-1952), gift by Harald Adelsohn (1883-1968).

Rootcarvings has a long tradition in China. In the Qing Dynasty, a large batch of root carving artists emerged, bringing the art to a higher level. Today, a lot of root carving treasures of the Qing Dynasty are kept in the Palace Museum and the Summer Palace of Beijing as well as in Yuyuan Garden of Shanghai.

Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Oriental Ceramics Society, 1986, page 56. There is a painting by Liu Han, 17th Century depicting two servants placing what seems to be a roots sculpture of a goat in front of a scholar for his enjoyment.