A green stone carving 山炮绿

Recently acquired a rare piece of jade-like green stone carving from Qintian. The name of the stone is Sanbao Green (山炮绿). The whole carving weighs almost 40 kg. There were carvings of small buildings, pagoda, temple and trees on the rocky parts (non-green areas) of the green stone. This is how the artist used his skills to change the unattractive parts of the stone into somethings which look attractive and meaningfull. In doing so, he retained most parts of the features on the stone and turned it into a piece of art. The base is another qintian stone carvings of trees and buildings and a compound by the side. The oriental buildins in green and light red colours are very pleasing to the eyes. The theme of this carving is Capturing Jiangnam in Green.

This is how the stone artists work. They will spend 90% of the time looking at the stone and imagine what they can carve out from the stone. When inspirations finally arrived, they will spend the rest of the time (10%) to carve out the masterpiece. This involves blending the colour of the stone to the things the masters have in mind to carve out. At the end of the day, a masterpiece is produced, a combination of the colours, quality of stone with the skills and perfection of the artists. Some good masters will spend a few years to carve out his creations. No wonder some of these masterpieces are so expensive that only the super rich can afford to own them. Others are just not for sale, no matter what price you may offer. Sometimes the fees to engage a master to carve your own materials can be equally high. Some grandmasters charge a deposit of over a million dollars before he can even start work on your stone.

A green stone from Qintian

A stone master at work

A description of this stone

山炮绿 山炮位于汤乡，离乡驻地汤西南五点四公里，地处海拔八百米高山背。从汤乡到此经过三个山头，每个山头鼓起似泡，得名“山炮”，山民惯用“山泡”称之。此石色似翡翠，十分艳丽，又称翡翠青田。质细微冻。性坚而脆，肌理有许多白色麻点、黄色斑纹和硬砂块，多裂纹，纯净者难得。

绿青田，色为绿和墨绿，质细，晶莹，性脆。石中常隐黄、遏色似云状、梅桩状斑和黄、白色点。产山炮村，俗称山炮绿。露天开采，料多方大。质纯净、色泽鲜明、无杂质斑点者为佳品。

Furong stone carving

Recently acquired another piece of stone carving featuring an old man riding a donkey in search of peach blossoms in snowy mountain scene. The stone is a shoushan Furong stone with colour ranging from greenish yellow to red. Patches of snow can be seen hanging down the mountain and the old man was seen in front of a cave with a small boy in front leading the way.

 

Furong stone carving

 

Yang Mei (Waxberries) on a basket

Recently acquired a piece of stone carving depicting a basket full of Yang Mei, a type of fruit produced in China. The artist intelligently used different colour of this Shoushan stone to carve out the fruits with some branches and leaves. The whole piece of carving weighs 10 kg.

A shoushan stone carving

The colour of the fruits ranges from pinkish red to greenish yellow. The artistic appearance of this stone carving clearly shows the skills and mastery of the artist in area of stone carving. It is really a pleasant sight to admire the natural beauty of the shoushan stone and the remarkable workmanship of the master who created it.

Waxberries

Waxberries on tree

A stone carving

Recently, a stone carving weighing 10 kg was acquired. This carving is made from a type of soapstone found in Zhejiang of China. Is called Qintian stone with the characteristic greenish yellow colour. The carving is in the form of flowers and buds with some leaves. There is some bluish colour at the tip of the stone carving. The name of the stone is Lantin stone meaning the blue colour version of the Qintian stone. A picture of the stone carving is shown here.

Qintian stone carving

A great master piece of Qintian stone carving from a great master in China, Ni Tongfang. He delicately carved this piece of art using the best stone, the greenish yellow  Qintian stone called FongMengQin. This is just one piece by itself, no joining of pieces as the master blended the different colours in the stone into different subjects such as a moon surrounded by flowers and 2 birds.

 

Another stone carving