W100xH100xD25mm, China
A figurine of a cute chubby girl holding her pekingese dog, she is no ordinary girl but A-Fu the giant child and what she is toying with is no pet dog but a fierce lion. She and her boy friend has been send to earth to protect us from beasts that has been threatening the villagers in ancient time. (It would seem that the human are a more a threat to the wild life today and they should turn around and offer them protection instead.)
Click here to see our other A Fu.
W180xD70xH500mm, China
This little guy is the bridegroom in the puppet theater.
This puppet is called a Chaozhou wire puppet, the body of the puppet is supported by a main wire attached to the back of waistline of the puppet while the 2 arms are controlled by 2 wires attached to the waists, hence wire puppet, all the 3 wires are controlled by the puppeteer at the back stage.
The wire puppet is originated from the shadow puppet, it is also known as the Paper Shadow Puppet (through there is no paper and no shadow at all). From the break through from its 2 dimensions into having a round body, a head, then the removal of the paper screen demanding for a more very articulated head and costume. The control of the puppet remained more or less the same as the traditional shadow puppet giving the limitation of the movement of the head and the legs.
Click here to see the insight of wire puppet in today’s world. In the beginning of the movie you will see a man talking in a small construction site to a worker. The worker is one of the puppeteers who have abandon his art to make a more stable living as a masonry worker. The leader of the small puppet theater was trying to lure him to perform again. Despite being one of the national intangible cultural heritage items, it seems that its survival at the moment is only held out by the determination of the artisan. So next time when you see a puppet show please go and give it the support it deserves.
W60xD40xH90mm, China
A little clay figurine dressed in red and holding a fish.
This toy embedded many of the wishes that the parents would want for their child.
On his vest is the word “shou” 壽 – longevity,
while the fish 魚 “yu” shares the same sound as 余 “yu” – plentiful.
In the old days, when life is harsh, staying alive and having enough to survive on is a hope for the future. These words of blessing are often found in wood block prints, pottery, embroidery, wood carvings and even the name for dishes.
L80xW40xH40mm, China
Now how can you resist these complete cute looking clay dog toys!
Amongst the unique pottery, you will also find Mountain Folkcraft’s collection at the Cobo Ceramic Workshop X’mas Sale.
COBO CERAMIC WORKSHOP
1/F Fortune Court, 33 Morrison Hill Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
5 – 9 Dec 2014 (Fri – Tue)
13:00-20:00
L50xD20xH60mm,
W40xD20xH30mm,
W30xD20xH30mm, China
An army of little adorable clay figurines that will brighten your day!
Amongst the unique pottery, you will also find Mountain Folkcraft’s collection at the Cobo Ceramic Workshop X’mas Sale.
COBO CERAMIC WORKSHOP
1/F Fortune Court, 33 Morrison Hill Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
5 – 9 Dec 2014 (Fri – Tue)
13:00-20:00
W50xL140xH100mm, China
An old clay toy, of a cute rooster.
Dont belittle the rooster, it was the earliest form of time keeping, announcing to the world the start of a new day. With its ability to bring the sun out and to make the night retreat (a bit of a reverse logic), the Chinese thus believe that the rooster is able to keep the devil away.
Click for our other clay rooster toy and other clay toys.
W15xL60xH50mm, China
These black colour clay toys are a specialty from the Huai Yang area. The figurines take on many forms, from domestic animals to monster like creatures, as they began not as toys but saintly totems for worshiping. The lion was not originated from China, its legends came together with the Buddhism from India. The lion was not any ordinary wild animal but mystical creature with super power, it was worshiped for its power and its protection. As time goes by, the idea of the lion totem began to lose sharp, the figurines portray friendly and even cute lions and instead of being an object of worship, they are more like a children’s toy.
W50xD20xH80mm, China
Clay toys, like Disney toy, often take the form of a famous character, be it from a movie or an opera. This figurine is Hu San Niang, one of the three female warriors on Mount Liang in the novel “Water Margin”. Hu was the daughter of a powerful family, not only is she beautiful she is also well trained in military. After many victories for the family she was captured by the warriors of Mount Liang (108 outlaws that do good for the people) and soon she joined in and became the 59th warrior.
L160xD40xH160mm, China
A clay toy of a boy sitting on donkey.
This figurine reminded me of a childhood fable. A man and his son were on their way to the market with their donkey, a passerby saw them and said, “You have a donkey why not ride on it, such fools!” The man thought that’s true, so he put his son on the donkey. Its not long before someone else commented, “What a lazy boy, he lets his old folk walk while he rides.” The boy got off and asked his father to ride the donkey. Then another person said, “What a father, he rides the donkey and lets his young son walks.” So the man pick up his son and the two rides the donkey together, when they got to the market, someone scolded at them, “What a cruel family, two of them riding on a poor skinny donkey.” The man and the boy got off, feeling a bit bad, and thought the right thing for them to do is to carry the donkey, so they found a pole and tied the legs of the donkey to the pole and carried it upside down. The donkey hated it, just when they were crossing the bridge the kicking wiggled and cause the boy to drop his end of the pole, the donkey fell into the river and drowned. “This will teach you!”, said a man who saw what happened.
W150xD40xH200mm, China
Characters from the Beijing Opera (which is a collection of legendary stories in itself) are made into toys. I suppose the its no difference now with Buzz Lightyear and the Woody action character, an hero friend you can keep in the pocket.
This is Guan Yu, the hot blooded general of Liu Bei in the Three Kingdoms era (200BC), the character is made popular by the historic novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” (published 1350) where he is described as 9 feet tall with a 2 feet long beard, a date colour face and red lips, eyes of a phoenix, silkworm like eyebrow and above all loyal and dignify.
Not only is he a favorite character for the kids, he can also liked by the adults, taking on the role as the God of Wealth. In praise for his loyalty, in Hong Kong Guan Yu is also worshiped by the police and Triads alike.
Mountain Folkcraft 