Heavy stone scroll weight hand-carved with a rat on top. The rat is one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac so it is possible that the owner of this weight was born in the year of the rat. Weights such as this were used to weigh down scroll paintings which, once unrolled, had the tendency to roll back. The Chinese scholar loved to paint on scrolls which could be meters long and would be unrolled for viewing in the old days. This one dates from the 19th century and was in use as a door stopper when we found it. Diameter 12 cm. Height 10 cm.