Archives for category: toy

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L180xW100xD20mm, Japan

A neat little gun which loads 3 rounds of elastic shots.

BANG BANG BANG

“I was five and he was six
We rode on horses made of sticks
He wore black and I wore white
He would always win the fight

Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, my baby shot me down”

clay toy

 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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADIA50xH180mm, Japan

Happy 2015!

Apart from being the first day of 2015, today is also the Japanese New Year!

Since the Meiji period Japanese new year has changed from the lunar calendar to the Georgian calendar.  Most traditional customs remained the same, mochi, bell ringing and the Daruma doll.

The Daruma is a representation of Bodhidharma, the Buddhist monk who introduced Buddhism to China in the 5th Century, he was also well known for his 9 meditation, gazing onto a wall for 9 years.  The Daruma figurine is red figure on top of the pile, slightly rounded at the bottom like Bodhidharma meditating in the red robe.  Daruma is believed to bring happiness and prosperity and ward off accidents and misfortune and this blessing is renewed every new year.

The aim of the game is to knock off the 5 colour pieces below the Daruma while keep him upright and not falling over.  An upright Daruma at the end of the game would symbolize a success for his meditation and also good luck for the player.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAL80xW40xH40mm, 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

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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

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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.

clay toyW15xL60xH50mm, 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.

 

dollW130xH220mm, China

A gentle fabric doll dressed in indigo dye costume.

Here is the local designer Furze‘s abstract version.

clay 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.

clay toyL160xD40xH160mm, 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.