In search of plum blossoms in snow 踏雪尋梅

Here is a huge Shoushan carving created from a big Furong stone weighing almost 20 kg. I had a hard time bringing it home and putting it up for display. You can see an old man riding a donkey, in front of him is a servant boy leading the way. There are plum blossoms flourished in the midst of the snow, seen by the greenish white portion of the carving. The carving is a lovely piece of art created by stone carving specialist.

The theme for this carving is in search of plum blossoms in snow, 踏雪尋梅. In this story, an old man was riding a donkey up in a mountain in a snow setting in search of plum blossoms. This theme was first appeared in a poem by a poet Meng Huoran who lived during the Tang dynasty some 1000 years ago.

There is even an old song that described the old man riding a donkey in search of plum blossoms in snow. As he rode on, the bells that tied to the donkey chimed and he enjoyed the beautiful scene of plum blossoms that flourished in the deep winter. Sound of ting tang from the bells can be heard from a distance. The  lyrics (in mandarin) are reproduced below.
         

雪霽天晴朗 臘梅處處香
騎驢把橋過 鈴兒響叮噹
響叮噹 響叮噹 響叮噹 響叮噹
好花栽得瓶供養
伴我書聲琴韻 共度好時光

Translation:
 

The snow has cleared the sky is clear , scent of plum blossoms everywhere
Riding a donkey over a bridge, the bells ring out: ding dong
ring ding dong , ring ding dong, ring ding dong, ring ding dong!
flowers are picked and planted in vases
accompany my studies with melody of harp
we pass good times together

If you want to hear this song, click on the you tube UOL below:

           http://youtu.be/SFYdByOTS7U
           http://youtu.be/empQRc9sNlo (a fast version)

踏雪尋梅

In search of plum blossoms in snow

Brush holder

I have here a brush holder made of Huang Huali, a type of wood known for its refine grains and unique texture.

This wood was a favourite choice of material to make furniture in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Due to scarcity, the imperial courts would not allow people to use this wood privately. As a result, furniture made from Huang Huali can only be seen in the palace.

It was long considered that Huang Huali had already depleted due to massive tree cutting during the Ming and Qing dynasties by the Imperial court for building palaces and furniture. Due to the craze for antique furniture in the 1990s, the price of Ming and Qing antique furniture escalated over a few hundred times in the last decade.  Hence, people begin to take pride of owning furniture and other products made of this rare wood. All the things made from Huang Huali become hot items in the market.

Huang Huali wood is a highly sought after wood due to its characteristic wood pattern and attractive appearance. The texture is smooth, dense and very stable. A light fragrance will emit from the wood. This brush holder has a very smooth texture and a unique pattern of wood grains.


Scientific name of Huang Huali

A branch of Huang Huali being cut



Good wood seen after the cut

These days many traders also hunt for any small branches from the tree and used them to make into round balls for bracelets. Once a branch is cut, good quality Huang Huali appears in the centre and is surrounded by a layer of white wood. This wood is then cut into pearl-shaped items for making into bracelets, favourite items among collectors.


Huang Huali items

Just imagine, large pieces of wood is required to make furniture. The trees have to be at least 400 years old before the trunks reach the size required for large furniture like beds and table. Hence Huang Huali furniture is very costly.

Huang Huali furniture



A Huang Huali teapot



 

 

A popular Cantonese song to share:

 

http://youtu.be/4uBkWv8L0eg 上海灘

Yun Yuping 2

Yun Yuping, a crsftsmaster of Yixing, joined the Zisha factory in 1972 as as apprentice. Her tutor was He Daohong who is currently a national grand master. With proper guidance from He and her own handwork, she acquired the skills and art of Yixing pottery. She dares to innovate and her works are refined and meticulously executed.



Yun Yuping's teapot

 

Pictures taken from magazine

 

恽益萍:工艺美术师1954年出生,1972年进宜兴紫砂工艺厂,从师何道洪,开始紫砂工艺生涯.在艺师的精心授艺下,经勤学苦练,今已能 独当一面,制茗壶.近年参加厂部中级培训班和中央工艺美院陶瓷造型培训班学习,知识面又有拓宽.创作新品日趋成熟, 制作线型精细周到,添加松,竹,梅布局均衡,耐人寻味。

A song to share:
        http://youtu.be/kH-RlNEK-as  何日君再來

Xu Yuanming

Xu Yuanming, currently a senior craftsmaster of Yixing ware, is also working in the Yixing research institute. Only renown potters with talents are employed by this research institute.

Xu was born in 1964 in Yixing, Jiangsu. He is famous for using the pine tree, bamboo and plum blossoms as subjects in his works. With his training in traditional skills, he also strife for innovation and creative changes in teapot designs. His works are full of modern aspirations and his workmanship is superb and refine. All these attributes have become the unique characteristics of his works.

 The pot above is purchased in the early 90s from a reputable teapot importer. It is made from the purplish zisha. The body of the pot is a conical shape and has ribs around it. I do not know the significance of this design as no pot was made in this way before.

徐元明，国家级高级工艺师，1964年生于江苏宜兴，以制作松、竹、梅壶见长。在传统技艺上力求变化创新，富有时代气息，技法俊秀细腻，有独特鲜明的风格。

A Cantonese song to share:
     http://youtu.be/JB0dEjAMqjo  小李飛刀

Ox nose pot

This is another classic teapot called the ox-nose pot.

The lid of the pot takes the shape of the nose of an ox. The pot is cylindrical in shape. It is interesting to note that the lid is rather flat with two oblong openings that resemble the two nostrils of the ox. I have no idea as to who created this teapot design. There have been many of such pots made by famous potters, past and present.

This particular ox-nose pot was made from red zisha. The potter is a person by the surname of Ma. The pot is relatively easy to handle as one can grip the lid easily through the large openings of the nostrils.

Yixing teapots can take so many different designs, shapes and sizes due to the creativity of the potters. Anything is possible in the design of pots for tea drinking. However, it is important that the teapot design has to take functionality as a top priority. No one would a teapot that has problem in dispensing tea during tea drinking.

 A Cantonese song to share: http://youtu.be/OFFRDtmWeso 滄海一聲笑

Dragon egg pot

This pot is called the dragon egg pot, sound very funny (name translated from mandarin).

Actually the design of this pot was created by Shi Dabin, a well known potter from the Ming dynasty.
It was said that the founding father of the Yixing pot Gong Chun had 3 disciples. One of his disciples was known as Shi Peng. Shi Dabin was the son of Shi Peng. Even though Shi Dabin learned the Yixing craft from his father, his skill in teapot making was even better than his father. Shi Dabin's pots are highly valuable for historical reason. Quite a number of his pots are on display in the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware in Hong Kong, in the collection of KS Lo ( a renown collector).

In this dragon egg pot, the sprout is triangular shape. Coupled with the conical shape of the body, the pot looks uniquely different. The sad thing about this pot is that the potter did not leave behind his name on the pot. Only the characters China Yixing were inscribed at the base. With that mark, I can assume that the pot was probable made in the 80s or earlier as potters normally did not put the name on the pot.

The material used for this pot is of a high quality brown zisha and the workmanship is of a high standard. Hence the potter must be an experienced craftsman.

Xu Chenquan

Another classic red zisha pot with some yellow particles embedded in the zisha.

This is a pot designed and made by Xu Chenquan 许成权, the wife of Prof Pan Chunfang. Xu herself is a senior craftsmaster of Yixing pottery. She is also listed as a renown potter in the Who's who in Yixing.

I acquired this pot from her when she accompanied her husband to Singapore for a teapot exhibition cum sale held in the early 90s. Xu is also considered the 2nd generation potters after the likes of Gu Zingzhou, Jiang Rong and Chu Kexin, those pioneers of the early 50s in contemporary potters.

 

Xu was born in 1939 in Yixing and joined the Yixing factory in 1955 where she learned the art of zisha pottery from the legendary Chu Kexin.

 

Her works were exhibited in the US, Japan and Canada. She won numerous awards and accolades for her works. In 1991 she and her husband exhibited their Yixing ware in Singapore. In 1994 she also held a solo exhibition in Taiwan. In 1996 she was in the US and Canada giving lectures and demonstrations. She was awarded the title Renown art and craft artist of Jiangsu by the local government.

 

许成权: 1939年生于江苏宜兴，1955年入宜兴紫砂工艺厂，师从朱可心学艺。1958年赴湖南省醴陵陶瓷研究所进修瓷雕。1959年起任宜兴紫砂工艺厂技术编导逾20多年，1985年调入南京艺术学院陶瓷实验室工作。

1972年作品《新竹酒具》、《梅花鼎》赴美国、日本、加拿大等地展览；1980年作品《成竹茶具》获全国陶瓷设计评比二等奖；1988年《双鱼成龙鼎》获江苏省首届民间工艺“瓷金杯”大奖；1990年《八珍梅壶组》获江苏陶瓷评比三等奖。1991年赴新加坡举办夫妇作品展，1994年赴台湾举办《芳权紫砂陶艺展》，1996年赴美国、加拿大讲学示范。被江苏省人民政府授予“江苏省工艺美术名人”称号。

Xu Chenquan