This sometimes assumes a circular form, and is occasionally inlaid with the more precious metals; more often, however, it resembles the pear- or gourd-shaped screen. In the centre example illustrated, belonging to Mr. W. Harding Smith, the handle is of lacquered wood, the ornaments at its extremities, together with the rim of the fan blade, of bronze gilt; it bears an inscription on the obverse in Japanese, and on the reverse in Chinese, as follows:—
Japanese script.
‘Kisei ai shozaru jun-kwan
no hashi naki-ga gotoshi.’
‘Wrong and right (or odd and even) happen for ever,
impartially, like the revolving ball.’
This may, possibly, be rendered by the following:—
‘Defeat and victory succeed each other
by a turn of Fortune’s wheel.’
Chinese script.