DIA200xH100mm, China
A wash bowl from the past.
The painting on the bowl of an old man and a child with a background of plum blossom and pine tree. The words around the bowl describe a time of meeting and the wishes for the other to be affluent and a long life, seems to be by the same hand. Could it be a gift from the pottery to his friend or was it a commission work. It would be quite funny if I were to present a wash basin at someone’s birthday party.
DIA300xH450mm, China
A traditional Chinese hamper for delivering delicious goodies. Unlike the gift hamper that one receive nowadays, the hamper is not a part of the gift and would need to be return to the owner. Not only is it return but it is also expected to contain a red packet, a return gift in monetary form, “砸籃” (weighting the basket). In the traditional Cantonese gift etiquette, when receiving a food item as a gift, one would give a red packet to the giver, this is known as “砸” (za), the term that originate from the gift basket.
W250xD250xH400mm, China
This is a double deck bamboo basket for food storage. It is for carrying food stuff goodies as a gift for relative and friends, a kind of xmas hamper. Upon receiving the gift a red packet thank you note would be sent back to the sender.
L130xH50xW50mm, China
Traditionally, this is one of the Chinese New Year gift a child will receive from their parents as a blessing for the year. The story behind the tiger shoes goes like this; once upon a time in Yang Zhou, there is a kind heart boatman called Daai Yang, one day came an elderly traveller who appreciated Daai Yang’s attitude and gave him a painting. In the painting, there is a beautiful young lady stitching up a pair of tiger shoes. Daai Yang really like the painting and hanged it up immediately when he got home. That night, the lady in the painting came to Daai Yang, after a year of courting she bear a boy, for him. The head of the village heard about this miracle and snatched the painting from Daai Yang, hoping that the lady will do the same for him. The village head waited night after night but nothing happened. Daai Yang and the son was very sad but helpless against the villain village head. One day he met the old traveller again, she told Daai Yang to make a pair of tiger shoes for Xiao Hu and they will meet the wife again. When the son worn the shoes Daai Yang made for him, the shoes grew wings and delivered him to the village head, the shoes then turned into a pair of tigers and chased the villain away. The mother came down from the painting and the family lived happily ever after. Since then tiger shoes took on a name of being able to protect the child. RRrrrrrroarrrrR!
Mountain Folkcraft 