Archives for posts with tag: clay
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Lord Rabbit

04/08/2012 //
1

W100xD50xH130mm, China

This is no Easter bunny but the famous Lord Rabbit.  It is a toy for the Mid Autumn (full moon) festival in the Beijing area.  The Lord Rabbit figurine first appeared in the late Ming dynasty, it was mainly used for worshipping by the younger generations.  It is believed that Chang E, the moon goddess, has a pet rabbit who is whiter than white jade as he was named as the Jade Rabbit.  The Jade Rabbit was specialised in preparing the medicine (you might have seen images of him stirring the medicinal pot on the moon).  Jade Rabbit worshipping has then been taken into moon worship and since rabbit has been kept as a household pet, out of respect for the Jade Rabbit god he was worshipped as the Lord Rabbit.  By Qing dynasty Lord Rabbit has turned into a toy for the Mid Autumn festival.  The folk story goes; once Beijing was infected by plague, almost all the household got sick, the moon goddess was sadden by the news and sent the Jade Rabbit to help cure the capital.  At each household he healed he would turned down any gifts but instead borrow a new set of clothing.  With the new clothing he would assume a different image for the next household, sometimes a female, sometimes a general etc.  He would also take on different animals for transportation; a deer, a tiger, a horse etc., hence there are many different versions of his figurines.

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Categories clay, figurine, toy

Clay Lions

03/30/2012 //
0

W80xD60xH130mm, China

This is a toy from the famous Nie estate village, it is believed in the Ming dynasty a man named Nie arrived from He Bei on the run from a business failure.  On his desperation he arrived with his wife to a village in Shan Dong, even exhausted and penniless his mind was still reminiscent on the days of high life.  He grabbed a handful of clay and formed it in a clay tin, he then filled it with a bit fireworks and left the top open with a small hole.  Upon ignition, there comes an amazing fireworks display, it instantly became a hit and he name it Guo Zi Hua (fireworks in a pot).  It soon turned into a speciality of the village, the clay figure became more decorative and take on figurines of humans and different animals, so after the display of the fireworks, one get to keep a clay toy as well.  As time goes by the fireworks were taken out and the focus started on the clay figurine toy itself.

This is a pair of clay lions which about from being a toy also can function as bookends.

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Categories clay, figurine, stationary, toy

Money God

01/27/2012 //
0

DIA60xH80mm, China

Today is the 5th day of the Chinese New Year and the day for welcoming the Money God, the Money God has his four assistants will visit and bless randomly a handful of people.  On the day of the 5th, you might notice that shops and households trying to draw their attention with fire crackers or food in front of their statue (or nowadays the free posters that come with the weekly magazine).

It is a toy for the drinking game since the Tang dynasty, after wobbling, the person he is looking at will have to drink up!  This money god roly poly toy is made of paper with clay as a weight.

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Categories clay, figurine, paper, toy

Tiger Squeak

01/19/2012 //
0

DIA50mm, China

Yes yes I know tigers dont squeak, they roar … This toy is in keeping with the Chinese fascination of tiger as a protector guardian of children and child’s tiger squeak…  This tiger is made out of 2 pieces of clay, a bit like an oreo cookie, however it is a thin leather or toughen paper that is sandwich in between.  A squeak is fixed in the bottom layer, by moving the 2 parts a squeak will be sound.  It is known as the leather tiger.  It happens in China all the air blower tools, from bellow to a camera len blower are all called the leather tiger, can this only be a coincident?  or would it be some tribute to this toy.  Sadly, this toy is not longer popular for today’s children and are quite hard to find.

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Categories clay, toy

Clay Gu Gu

10/31/2011 //
0

H40xW40mm, China

TRICK OR TREAT?
This is part of a set of the zodiac animals clay gu gu toy.  They are called gu gu because they are whistle toy and makes “gu gu” sound.  Traditionally families would gather to hand build them together after the harvest season in the winter.  The gu gu normally has a black base colour and highlighted with bright colours but unlike the other clay toys they are glazed and then fired.  Happy Halloween!

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Categories pottery, toy

Clay Toy A-Fu

09/27/2011 //
0

H150xW100xD80mm, China

This is a clay toy named Da A Fu; legend has it that once upon a time, the area of Hui Shan was inhabited by wild monsters.  The villagers were very afraid of them.  One day the the Sand Child god, named Da A Fu, was send from heaven to tame the  monsters. With magical powers, just a grin from Da A Fu, the monsters would become very gentle.  The villagers made clay figures of Da A Fu to commemorate him.  The figures are also used as a protector of devils.

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Categories clay, figurine, toy
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