W60xL330xD20mm, China
In the book Dream of the Red Chamber (Chapter 35), the young Pao Yu described a soup he had, one with young lotus leaves and lotus flower. These leaves and flowers are little ornamental dumplings placed inside the soup. The book went on to describe the moulds for their making. A set of 4 silver moulds, each just over a foot long and an inch thick. The moulds are the size of beans, of chrysanthemums, plum blossom, lotus seed, water chestnut. The Red Chamber is a family of culture and wealth and for the ordinary folks the moulds are made of wood instead of silver. With the pace of modern living, this delicate soup has now become the 疙瘩汤 … soup with comes from a stock cube and dumpling simply squeeze out of a plastic bag.
Isn’t this sad …
Mountain Folkcraft 