Transcultural wonder

The materials and symbols that bedeck this instrument emphasize its position in different histories of transculturation and transfer. The ivory plaques, presenting auspicious symbols and carved in China by a growing local industry, assert the ‘Chinese-ness’ of the object and its links with communities within and beyond the region.

As a luxury product of the Ming dynasty, this pipa exemplifies transculturality in the early modern period: an expensive gift for a member of the Chinese elite that simultaneously represents the traditions of the Chinese court and the ever-developing system of trade routes and global interaction in this period.