DIA75mm, China
The perfect circle in motion.
Something Old Something New
Collectible Jewellery Collection
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W350xL350mm, China
A delicate embroidery of flowers with gold threads on a fine piece of silk. An example of the school of Guangdong embroidery where different thread material is being used, gold, silver, horse hair and even threads made from peacock’s feather.
This item is a du dou, a traditional under garment which is made by the girl for their lover, husband and children. The pattern on the this du dou seems to be cropped which might indicate that it was taken from a fine top garment, something that is far too precious to throw away even if certain part is torn.
W600xH170mm, China
A phrase of blessing, 福壽無疆 “Fu Shou Wu Jiang”, good fortune and longevity without limit.
On the print are 4 fruits (from right to left); the Buddha’s hand fruit, the peach, large fruit and the pomegranate, they are also symbol of blessings.
Buddha’s Hand Fruit 佛手 – the fortune hand 福手 as they share the same pronounciation “Fu Shou”.
Longevity Peach 壽桃- the magical peaches that produce longevity.
Large Fruit 碩果- the rare individual that made large achievements.
Pomegranate 石榴 – the many seeds of the pomegranate symbolizes many sons.
This new year print was from the Ping Yang school which started print making since the Sung dynasty. This print is by one of the famous print shop 興昌畫店 in Lin Fin Town.
W45xD45xH75mm, China
A snuff bottle decorated with 8 treasures used by the Taoisit 8 Immortals, “An Ba Xian”.
Gourd – Iron Crutch Li
Fan – Han Zhong Li
Fish Drum – Elder Zheng Guo
Sword – Lu Dong Bin
Lotus – He Xian Gu
Basket of Flower – Lan Cai He
Flute – Philosopher Han Xiang Zi
Castanet – Royal Uncle Cao
These 8 treasures have special powers;
Gourd – saving the world
Fan – resurrection
Fish Drum – prediction
Sword – keep evil at bay
Lotus – purification of the soul
Basket of Flower – direct line to the Saints
Flute – revitalizing all creatures
Castanet – purifying the world
When I was writing this, I thought the Gourd being able to save the world would be all that we need, but writing on all the other 7 treasures are even more powerful. For the world we live in now, we need the Castanet more than ever.
DIA330xH80mm, China
A lacquer tray decorated with picture of a scene from the Beijing opera “Tai Jun Ci Cao”. The story is about the famous Yang family of warriors.
First some background to the story; Commander Lord Yang, his wife She Sai Hua and their 7 sons was defending the North Han country against the Sung. Though the Sung army is the stronger one, the Yang’s family out smarted them, the Sung General Pan was shot by Lady’s She’s arrow and had to retreat. Failing with the attack, the Sung emperor spread rumors about Lord Yang which had the suspicious North Han emperor distrust Yang’s advice and was defeated utterly. After the victory, the Sung emperor took Lord Yang under his wing and made him a trusted official, General Pan was very jealous of this promotion.
The Liao country start attacking Sung, Lord Yang and his sons was defending Sung at the border. Yang’s army was out numbered, 3 of his sons were killed in action, he send his 7th son to get reinforcement but was secretly killed by Pan. Lord Yang was captured and one of his son was captured, Lord Yong committed suicide to avoid being used as a hostage while his son was selected by the Liao Princess to be her husband. The 5th son was tired of all the fighting and the politics became a monk. The 6th son managed to escape and returned to the Sung capital and became the commander in place of his father but was later killed in action.
The opera story on the lacquer dish appear at this point, the Sung emperor asked the Yang family to led the fight with the Liao. With all the males gone, here is only Lady She (now in her 70s), 2 daughters, the daughter in laws and young grandson left in the family. Lady She, the commander with the female warriors led the army to victory. When they return safety home, Lady She after losing all her sons fearing that her only grandson too would eventually die in battle ask the Emperor to allow the family to leave their duty as the commanders.
DIA120xL360mm, China
Before there are plastic or stainless steel drainers, the one made with bamboo is a household item. Bamboo is a faster growing plant, a material that was employed in most household objects; chairs, sieves, baskets etc. The technique of bamboo weaving became a special craft in China and Japan alike, but with the arrival of newer material such as plastic, the craft of bamboo weaving is becoming a dying art.
The bamboo strainer is perfect for making noodles.
L350xD25xH130, China
This golden wood carving used to be center pediment of an ornamental object, perhaps on small shrine in a temple.
On the carving, there are 2 dragons chasing after a pearl. Dragons are believed to be mythical creatures from the sky, they need to attain a certain quality to become a saint. After a few hundred years, the essence of what they have learnt from nature would become a pearl like pellet. The dragon would spit out the pearl for it absorb the spirit of nature and the bigger the pearl would grow. One day while a dragon was practicing with his pearl, another dragon decided to take this pearl to speedup his own attainment. The bad dragon spit out his pearl hoping it would absorb the other, the two pearls melted and became one giant pearl, both dragons wanted to take it in and started using all their tricks. Their fight upset the nature of the universe and the Jade Emperor took them in and set the pearl on the temple which would be protected by the dragons for good
W130xH220mm, China
A gentle fabric doll dressed in indigo dye costume.
Here is the local designer Furze‘s abstract version.
W140xD160mm, Hong Kong
A small portfolio decorated with a piece of embroidery filled with blessing symbols.
The cow in the middle of the embroidery is known as a Spring Cow, it is part of the Chinese New Year traditional that has been passed down since 800B.C. The figure of a cow would be made with straws and mud, a day before (Li Chun – the first day of spring in the 24 solar terms) it would be brought to front gate of the town where it would be whipped by all the notable of the town or village. The ritual is believed to wake up the Spring Cow, the passing of the freezing winter, the start of agriculture and the gone with winter ailmnet. With us city dwellers who are far away from the farmland and the fields, the only Spring Cow we will see is perhaps the one printed at the back of the Tung Shing which gives us prediction of the year’s weather. Well, for this year will is suppose to be drought, we seems to be getting a lot of rain so far.
Around the Spring Cow are blessing objects;
@12 o’clock – yellow moon, an object of worship,
@2 o’clock – the double trapezium, Fang Sheng, the hairstyle of the Queen Mother of the West, has the ability to pacify,
@5 o’clock – rhino horn, resembling victory,
@7 o’clock – scroll of books and painting, wisdom
@10 o’clock – the 3 blessed star Fu Lu Shou,
@11 o’clock – in form of a white cloud shape is Ru Yi, “as you wished”.
Mountain Folkcraft 