A Lotus Flower Brand Seventeen Column Chinese Suanpan Wooden Abacus

A Lotus Flower Brand Chinese suanpan abacus, manufactured in the People’s Republic of China. The instrument features a dark-stained wooden frame reinforced with brass corner plates and decorative brass hinges on the side rails. It contains 17 columns, each with two beads on the upper deck and five beads on the lower deck in the traditional configuration. The rounded black beads are made of wood and are mounted on a combination of wooden and light-coloured metal rods. A rectangular metal plate is affixed to the top of the frame, bearing the Chinese characters 荷花牌 (Lotus-Flower Brand) and 中华人民共和国制造 (Made in the People’s Republic of China), along with a circular emblem depicting a pink lotus flower.

Length: approximately 450mm.