Chinese Stone Grinding Wheel

A stone dish with a hub in the middle and a hole where an axle might go.

This grinding wheel is from China and dates to the 18th century or earlier. It is stone. Stone mills and grinding dishes were used across China for processing grain and other materials, and they are often shaped from a single piece of rock. This one is a broad, round dish with a thick, tool marked rim, shaped like a shallow trough. A raised circular hub at the center is pierced by a round hole and finished with fine radiating lines. The stone is pale, rough and slightly gritty. It is 19.5 inches wide and deep and 4.5 high.

It has done a great deal of work, and looks calm about it.