From God’s hand to the hand of the artisan: the turned ivory sphere and the polyhedron in Qing China

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the mechanized worldview of eighteenth-century China as expressed in the multilayered, geometric, turned ivory spheres known as guigong qiu (magic or demon’s-work ball), a name which implies that the balls were not created by human hands. Although these turned ivory spheres in China have been associated exclusively with domestic craftsmanship, records from the eighteenth century show that a German lathe used for ivory carving, along with a Contrefaitkugel (a concentric, hollow ivory ball decorated with an openwork pattern), were given as gifts to the Chinese emperor. This article explores the relationship of the Contrefaitkugel to the Chinese tradition of producing decorative and mathematical forms based on polyhedral geometry. The article also discusses the role of ornamentation in the Qing dynasty as well as the spheres’ pivotal role in the evolution of a self-conscious craft ingenuity. It offers a new perspective on ‘turning the globe’ through the hand of the artisan, whose work was believed to mimic that of the creative deity, activating a complex analogy between human and divine production.