Archives for the month of: February, 2012
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Lattice

02/08/2012 //
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W530xH1020mm, China

This wooden lattice was part a building, these lattices featured in all traditional Chinese buildings, temples, courts, residential house, etc.  They are the upper part of the door which is responsible for letting light into the house.  Its a kind of a window, you could say.  Buildings are measured by the unit of Jian, and for each jian there will be 4 lattice door.  The whole door is of the proportion 1:3 or 1:4.  The door is divided into 3 parts, the top is the lattice Ge Shan, the middle is Yao Chuan, the lower part is Zhang Shui Ban.  The lattice is constructed by joinery and most often with a miter joint.  Danial Sheets Dye’s Chinese Lattice Design has a lot of information regarding the Chinese lattice, it was first published in 1937!

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Categories furniture / architecture, wood

Glover Puppet

02/08/2012 //
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W300xH450mm, China

The head, feet and hands of the glove puppet is made of wood and its body and arms in a fabric formed glove.  For the right hand control puppet, with the whole hand in the glove, the thumb would go into the left arm of the puppet, the index finger in the head and the remaining 3 fingers in the right arm of the puppet.  As the puppet is directly control by the hand, fine mechanism can be built into the head for the control of the eye, the mouth etc.  As in all theatre, the characters of the glove puppet show can be classified into 7 category and each with its many subtypes;  the Sheng (male role), the Dan (female role), the Jing (the painted face strong character), the Chou (clown), the Xian (saint), the Guai (monster).

The puppet here is of the saint category,  Ling Guan, he is a Taoist saint who used to be bad temple god who would eat children for a meal.  A powerful wizard tamed him with a flying fire charm and set his eyes on fire.  Ling Guan was upset and filed a complaint to the Jade Emperor who compensated him with a golden whip and a third eye of wisdom, he was also allowed to follow wizard and take his revenge if he found the wizard doing a bad deed.  12 years he followed the wizard and the wizard only do good and no wrong, Ling Guan was moved, instead of hoping for his revenge he became a disciple of the wizard.

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Categories fabric, figurine, puppet, wood

Yuan Xiao

02/06/2012 //
2

DIA110xH70mm, China

Today is the 15th day of the Chinese New Year, Yuan Xiao, a day which denotes a lot of events;
– First full moon of the new year
– End of the Chinese New Year celebration
– Chinese valentine’s day
– Lantern’s festival

It is traditional to have a rice dumpling soup on the day and to solve the lantern riddle.
Here is the recipe for the rice dumpling soup (also known as Yuan Xiao)

INGREDIENTS

For the dumpling (make 10 dumpling)

  • 110g glutinous rice flour
  • 100g water
  • 25g black seasame seed
  • 25g sugar
  • 1.25 tbs butter (the traditional version is to use lard)

For the soup

  • 625ml water
  • 40g sugar brown sugar bar
  • 3 slices of ginger
  1. Heat the sesame seed in a pan in medium heat (keep stirring) until popping
  2. Grind the cooled sesame seed in a blender or mortar
  3. In a heated pan, melt the sugar, butter and blend in the sesame paste, then put in the fridge
  4. For the skin dough, mix the rice flour with water, knead until  it is no stick to the hand
  5. Make 10 little balls with the dough, take 1 ball, flatten it  and make a slight dent, put the sesame stuffing in and lightly let the dough envelop in the stuffing and shape the dumpling into a ball again
  6. Make the sweet soup by adding the 3 items in a saucepan and boil till the sugar dissolved
  7. In other large pan of boiling water, add in the dumpling, they will start to float when they are cooked
  8. Put a couple of dumpling in a bowl of sweet soup, enjoy!

LANTERN RIDDLE

Here is a lantern riddle to go with your dumpling soup (now all you need is to find a valentine and a lantern …)

WHEN IT IS SITTING ITS SITTING
WHEN IT IS STANDING ITS SITTING
WHEN IT IS MOVING ITS SITTING
WHEN IT IS SLEEPING ITS SITTING

(guess an animal)

The bowl presented here is in fact a tea bowl (blue and white porcelain with painted goldfish), its a brewing and drinking bowl for individual enjoyment.  Hot water is added to the tea leaves in the bowl, rinse and drained (use the lid to retain the tea leave).  A second round of hot water is added and brew for 10 minutes.  The lid is opened for appreciation of the scent and the colour of the tea, it is then close again with a small small opening.  Tea is slowly sipped out from the gap.

(answer to the riddle – frog)

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Categories container, pottery

Bondres Bues Topeng

02/05/2012 //
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W140xH180mm, Indonesia

This is a Balinese topeng for the masked dance.  Bondre Bues is a comical character who loved drinking, with a blurry speech and a drinken mind, he loved to pick on fights.  This when not drinking, this rowdy bully practices martial art and looking for the next drink. Sounds familiar?

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Categories mask, wood

Hmong Embroidery

02/04/2012 //
1

W100xL600mm, Thailand

The Hmong tribe is one of the 5 major hill tribes in Thailand, the Hmong is a sub tribe of the Miao tribe in China.  It is believed that due to the cultural reforms brought on in the Qing dynasty, a search for more fertile land that have brought on a massive immgration in the 18th century.  According to records in the Chinese literature, the Miao tribe can be dated back to 3rd century BC.

These embroidery were decorative pieces on the sleeve or collar of the Black Hmong costume, unfortunately the garments which these embroidery have been on were too worn to be kept, these are the pieces that have been salvaged.  Traditionally, these garments were worn during the Hmong New Year in November or December when the harvest has been completed.  They are combination of cross stitching and patchwork, the embroidery patterns all have a subtle symbolic meaning; (left) a protection cross, (center) flowers, (right) snails.  These embroider pieces are a perfect for any handmade projects, bags, jackets, etc.

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Categories costume, embroidery, fabric, tribal

White Bone Yin Yang Sword

02/03/2012 //
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L800xW60mm, Hong Kong

This is the famous “White Bone Yin Yang Sword” which I believe belonged to my cousin.  It was made at the time when fathers would still make toys for the kids then giving them psp, ipad or nds.  The sword is based on the one in the movie “White Bone Yin Yang Sword” staring the teen idol Connie Chan Po Chu.  I am sure many of you would have the Lightsaber, the Star War version of the handmade toy.

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Categories toy, wood

Oil Lamps

02/02/2012 //
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DIA70xH120-250mm, China

We have a collection of these green glazed oil lamps, in pairs, of different heights.  For the ceramic oil lamp design, the design for these lamps are the most basic.  Its functional, well proportioned and durable (if Muji existed in Qing dynasty China, I suspect their oil lamp will be like these).  They are made on a pottery wheel and glazed with green glaze that has been popular since the Sung dynasty.

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Categories lighting, pottery

Scale

02/01/2012 //
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L550xW80mm, China

This is a chinese traditional scale used for measuring light weight items such as gold or herbs.  The scale work by the concept of a lever; the item to be weight on one end and the weight on the other.  The weight is slide along until the scale is balanced and from the markings of on the rod, the weight of the item can be told.  The small red tassels are the points for pivots, changing the pivot points will give provide a different range for the scale.  This is a portable scale with a custom made bamboo casing.  The earliest found scale was dated around 700BC; the unit weight for the scale has been changing since, this scale is based on 16 tael to 1 catty, 1 tael = app 37.8g which is the current unit used for the hong kong wet market.

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Categories bamboo, metal, tools, wood
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