DIA170mm, Hong Kong
Here another unique piece of jewellery designed for the Something Old Something New collection. These are unique one off item designed to suit the beads we have, you will never have a jewellery clash with someone at an exhibition opening or at a dinner reception. Come check them out!
DIA80mm, Hong Kong
Apart from elaborated neckwear, we also have casual items, Here is a handmade casual leather bracelet.
DIA180(L280mm), Hong Kong
For the celebration of the arrival of 2013, the Something Old Something New jewellery collection brings you the lucky blessing of the kirin boy. The kirin, a mystical creature which the Chinese believe to have magical power, it also took on the role of the stork for delivery babies. This role was attributed to the kirin from the legend of Confucius at the time before he was born; one night a kirin with a scroll in his mouth appeared in front of his parents’ house, the scroll, an announcement from heaven, has the words “he will be a wise man with good morality, though he does not have a throne, he has the virtue of a king”. The next morning, the kirin disappeared and Confucius was born, sine then the kirin is associated with delivering babies with talents. The kirin boy pendent, like the long life locket is a special blessing for the child wearing it.
Here is the “making off”, featuring an antique kirin boy silver pendent.
DIA160mm, Hong Kong
For the Something Old Something New Jewellery Collection, we have a jade double lotus neckwear. The twin lotus, Bingdi lotus, has 2 flowers on a single stem, there are more rare than having a twin for human. For the Chinese it is a symbol of solidarity, being from the same branch, same heart, use to describe a loving couple.
Unfortunately, before I have a chance to post it on the blog, this unique item has already been sold. But its such a nice piece that I could not resist of putting it on the blog anyway.
Follow the complete flowering process of the twin lotus here.
DIA130xH40mm, China
Today is the day of the Chinese winter solstice, Dong Zhi, it is one of the most important date for the rural China. Early in 500 B.C., basing from sun dial, the date for the 4 seasons were defined with the day of the shortest shadow at noon being summer solstice and the longest being winter solstice. Here are 2 folk proverbs prediction basing on the weather on the day of winter solstice, take a note and see if they are right.
Warm on Winter Solstice, freezing till middle of March;
Cold on Winter Solstice, Spring will have an early warmth.
Rain on Winter Solstice, sunny on Chinese New Year;
Rain on Mid Autumn, sunny onWinter Solstice.
White leather brooch, for the longest night of the year. Happy winter solstice!
DIA160mm, Hong Kong
Here it is the first piece of uniquely designed jewellery we are presenting to you for the Something Old Something New jewellery collection!
A leather neckwear of leave shaped turquoise ornaments.
As a child I was intrigued by this colour, an in between of blue and green, and with such a posh name – TURQUOISE. The name of other colours are more simple, almost as if they have been designed for a child – RED, BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW, PINK, etc., with TURQUOISE there is a French air about it. It was until much later that I discover the material, turquoise, and funny enough the name came from an old French word which means Turkish, Turkey was the place where turquoise was imported to Europe.
Here is the animated Ken Nordine with Turquoise;
W250xH350mm, Cambodia
There are broadly 2 types of shadow puppets in Cambodia, Sbek Thom and Sbek Toch. Sbek Thom are large shadow puppets, the leather part can get up to 1.5-2m tall and 1.5m wide. The puppeteers for Sbek Thom are part of the performance and are not in disguised, they dances in front and behind of the screen; the epic Ramayana is performed. This shadow puppet belongs to the Sbek Toch genres, they are smaller and usually tell the folktales based on everyday life (unlike Sbek Thom which has a religious significant).
W200xH600mm, Indonesia
This shadow puppet is Tualen, the father of Merdah, they are both servants of Rama. Tualen used to be a god but he was punished for a mistake he made and was send down from heaven to be a human with black skin. Being a god, Tualen is wise and kind. The Balinese believe that by giving their baby holy water of Tualen, their child will be wise like Tualen.
W300xH300mm, China
This is the head piece for Chinese opera, a crown used by the female warrior character, resembling the fighter’s helmet. It has one layer of pompons and thus known as word one crown (the chinese word for one is 一, a simple horizontal line)
Due to the age of this piece, some of its tassels and a few of the pompons have gone missing. The blue ornaments on the head piece are made from kingfisher feathers, tian tsui, a precious material. The kingfisher bird has an amazing blue colour, however the intense colour is not from the pigment of the feather but from the reflection of the light. Each piece of feather is painstakingly cut and inlay onto a metal gilt. A relatively thin sheet of precious metal (gold or silver) is formed, gold or silver wires are bent according to the design and placed on the edge of this area, then small pieces of the feather is glued into the recess area.
W220xH440mm, China
The fan the matchmaker was holding is made from the leave of a palm tree, this instead is a goose feather fan and its most famous owner is no other than Zhu Ge Liang, the strategist of the San Guo period around 200AD. Zhu Ge Liang is also known as Kong Ming, not only is he good at military strategy, he is also an inventor and literati, a symbol of intellect (apparently he is real handsome too). Zhu Ge Liang, despite of the seasonal change, is never without his fan, they are almost inseparable from this gift from his wife. Once upon a time there is a literati called Huang Cheng Yan, he has a beautiful daughter, to keep her safe from the men around, he named her ugly and she her to learn all sorts of martial arts. When she completed the martial art apprenticeship her master gave her a goose feather fan. On the fan is the word Ming and Liang and strategic military plans, her master told her the future husband will have the word Ming and Liang (shiny) in his name. She married Zhu Ge Liang and gave him the fan as a present, he then had it everywhere he goes, even going with it to war. It seems the fan is not only representing the love between the couple but a bible for military strategy.
Mountain Folkcraft 