Chinese Plaque Depicting Scholars & Poem

A pale rectangle of jade, scalloped at the edges, crowded with small characters.

This plaque depicting scholars and a poem was carved in jade in China, and the record gives no date. Jade plaques with figures and verse are commonly made as scholar’s objects and for display. Here a small upright slab with cusped edges shows rows of tiny incised marks across the face, set in a pale honey-gray stone with brown clouding. The carved text is not translated here. It rests on a wire clip over a black stand.

About 3 inches tall. Poetry you can pocket, in a manner of speaking.