Archives for the day of: 09/06/2012

DIA190xH120mm, China

You have probably seen a larger version of this in a Chinese garden before, a stool for sitting on for the ladies.  It is called a Gu Dun, the word “Gu” means drum and as you can see the top of this pottery has decoration resembling a piece of leather held taut like a drum.  The Gu Dun was originally made in wood and later also made with pottery, porcelain, stone and lacquer.   You can see in the Sung painting below that it is already a popular chair at that time and the most recent design is perhaps Philip Starck’s Bonze Stool.

The one featured in the post today is a miniature decoration piece which is made in the form of a Gu Dun.

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W130xH70xD30, China

The carp fish is a blessing symbol for the Chinese, there are many legends regarding the carp fish and here is one of them:
Once upon a time there is an orphan named Ji Qing, without a family he made his living as a boat tracker on the Chuan Jiang River.  Life was hard but he lived his days joyfully, being a good swimmer he is able to retrieve any objects his passenger accidentally dropped into the ocean.  Diving deep into the water he had a special bond with the carp fish, even if he is hungry he will not harm them, his friend made fun of him and called him silly Qing.  One day when he was tidying up the tow string, he saw a beautiful golden carp but at the same time a water snake was about to make it his dinner.  Ji Qing threw the string on the water snake and saved the golden carp, he took the injured carp to his hut and nursed it for days.  One evening exhausted from a day’s water he rushed home to see the carp but it was no where to be found.  Oddly on the table was 4 gold bars and there carved the words, “I have jumped to the sky and swam to the reef but failed to be a dragon (it is believe that if a carp can jump over the mountain it will turn into a dragon), here I am to give wealth to Ji Qing.

Would this be the golden carp?

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