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Peony Lacquer Dish

12/06/2014 //
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DIA330xH90mm, China

A beautiful lacquer serving dish which I found the colour to be warm and x’mas like, the same feeling as scent of the tangerine peels, the taste of cinnamon, the sound of church bells …

The dish is decorated with peony flowers, peony is also know as the flower of riches and honour 富貴花.  There is a story about peony and the mean Empress Wu Zetian, one snowy winter she summoned all the flowers to blossom for her morning wine party.  The gardeners as well as the plants did their best, going against the natural order they all blossomed in fear of the Empress, all but the peony.  The Empress was extremely upset and forbid peony to stayed in the capital Chang An, it was send to Luoyang. There in Luoyang, the peony blossoms filled the city.  When the Empress heard about the news, she ordered for the peony to be burnt, but under the warm of the heat, it blossomed even more.

Click for more information about the special construction of the dish.

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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Categories container, lacquer, wood

Cookie Mould – Lotus

12/01/2014 //
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L270xW100xH30mm, China

The pattern for this cookie mould is that of a lotus plant.
The Buddhist believes that the lotus is the purest of plant, it shoot up from the muddy pond but yet it has the ability to keep any dirt from attaching.

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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Categories tools, wood

Golden Wood Carving – Wei Chi Gong

11/25/2014 //
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAW40xL80xH110mm, China

This lion riding figue is Wei Chi Gong, a general of the Tang dynasty.  Stories of his loyalty and bravery made it to the hearts of the people that he became a protector for the home, prints and figurines were made of him and his partner Qin Qiong.

Legends has it that in the Tang dynasty, the Dragon King had a bet with a fortune teller, this act violated the rules of the heaven and Jade Emperor ordered for the dragon’s execution.  The Dragon King pledged with the Tang Emperor and the Emperor agreed to summon the executioner back to court so the dragon could be spare.  Unfortunately, the Emperor doses off and missed the hour, the dragon was cut in half and died.  The dragon was extremely upset that the promise was broken and its ghost haunted the imperial palace day and night.  Wei Chi Gong and Qin Qiong, the two brave generals offered to stand guard at the door of the palace, the dragon ghost was kept at bay.  The emperor felt guilty that the pair has to be on guard days and nights because of his own negligence and ordered prints and figurines to be made of the two so to spare them from their task.  The fame of the two generals is so powerful that their imagery would be enough to scare away the haunted dragon, since then they were used to guard doors, gateways, bed in the household.

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Categories figurine, wood

Golden Wood Carving – Pheonix Towards the Sun

11/19/2014 //
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L430xD60xH110mm, China

This wood carving would have been the center piece of  a furniture.  A pair of phoenix amidst an intricate carving of clouds are flying towards the raising sun.

The phoenix is a pair of mythical birds that symbolizes peace.  These king of birds flying towards the sun represent an expectation of well being to come; a blessing of health, longevity and goodness.

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Categories lacquer, wood

Puppet Head – Guan Yu

11/13/2014 //
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W45xH90mm, China

This is a glove puppet head for the character Guan Yu.

One of the heros in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu was the loyal general of the warlord Lui Bei.  With the help of Guan, Lui Bei later formed the Han Dynasty and unified China.

Guan Yu is portrayed with having a red face, 9 feet tall with a 2 feet long beard and eyes of a pheonix.  A powerful and masculine figure.  Aside from his bravery, Guan Yu is known for his loyalty.

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Categories figurine, puppet, wood

Kirin Cookie Mould

11/05/2014 //
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAW80xL160xH25mm, China

This cute looking creature is a kirin, a mythical animal, it has the head of a horse, a pair of horns, a body full of scale and the tail of a dragon.  It is kind, peace loving, for this gentle nature, it is often portrayed to be riding on clouds or waves and not treading over the delicate grass.  The kirin lives in the sky and only one rare occasions will visit human, bringing along good fortune, thus seen as a good omen.

Click to see our other cookie moulds and kirins.

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Categories tools, wood

Halloween – Master 8

10/31/2014 //
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W120xD120xH300mm, China

Master 7 and Master 8 comes in a pair, 7 tall and white, 8 shorta and black .  Master 7&8 (aka the Black and white Supernaturals) are probably the most horrifying members of the underworld as they are guards from hell who also execute punishment for the dead.  Master 7 is known as  Xie Bi An, Master 8 Fan Wu Jiu, the two were close friends who worked as guards for a small court.  One day the prisoner they were escorting managed to escaped.  They went their separate ways to search for the fugitive and agreed to meet back at the embankment by the bridge at a certain hour.  It rained hard and didnt stop, Xie (8) didnt manage to get to the embankment in time while Fan (7) waited.  Fan saw the water level on the river raise, started to flood but remain there, he didnt want his friend to think that he has deserted him and left Xie to take the blame of losing the prisoner.  When Xie got there, the river has flooded, Fan being a shorty got drowned.  Xie was upset with himself, he was too tall to drown himself, so he found a tree and hang himself, finally making the appointment with Fan in the underworld.  The Jade Emperor was impressed by the loyalty the two has shown and made them the Generals of Hell.

On the night of the Halloween when all the ghosts are about, perhaps Master 7 and 8 would get a day off from their tasks as well.

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Categories figurine, wood

Topeng Tua

10/21/2014 //
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W140xD80xH190mm, Indonesia

Topeng Tua is an old man character who appears at the opening of the performance as well as in religious ceremony Tari Topeng Tua which would be performed in the temple piodalan.  Other character would aslo include topeng Keras, topeng Dalem, topeng Penasar.

Click here to see our other topeng.

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Categories mask, wood

Golden Wood Carving – Child from the Saints

10/14/2014 //
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W170xD60xH130mm, China

“Child from the Saints” is a popular blessing subject in the Ming and Qing period, symbolizing blessing and fertility.  The legend dated back to the late Han dynasty, when the Wei Emperor to be was a poor farmer.  One spring, when he was working in the field, he saw a immaculate carriage landed from the sky, inside of the carriage was a beautiful lady.  He put away his tools and went to greet the visitor, the lady told him she is send by the Jade Emperor to be his wife, the two got married on the day, the lady saint said she has to go back to heaven and would meet him again a year later at the same place.  A year later, Wei arrived early to the field awaiting for his date, the magic carriage appeared, inside it was the lady saint together with a baby.  She handed him the baby and said he was his son and he will be the Emperor.

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Categories figurine, lacquer, wood

Ground Opera Mask

10/10/2014 //
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W210xD85xH300mm, China

Ground Opera is performed in at the end of the Chinese New Year, on the day of Yuan Xiao.  The story performed in the Ground Opera are solely about warfare and battles, romance and other dramas script are nonexistent.  This is due to the fact that the origin of the performance is basing on the welfare, though the performers are ordinary farmers, their ancestors were military settlement dated back to the Ming dynasty.  They still have the warrior’s spirit running in them.  It is believed that the spirits of these fighters will returned during the performance, helping to cast away any evils and to bless the village for the coming year.  Rituals are performed before and after the shows.

Also unlike other Chinese operas, the character of the Ground Theatre is not defined by the category of Sheng, Dan, Jing, Chou.  The main characters in the show are all warriors, broadly divided into male and female (by the eyebrow), old and young (by the beard), temperament (by facial colour), hero and villain (by the facial marking).  From this we can determined that this mask would belong to the role of a loyal villian warrior fighter.

 

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Categories mask, wood
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