A Chinese Ru Brush-washer at Sotheby’s

Check behind the sofa cushions for spare change, because you’ll need it all to raise your bid on one of the most remarkable ceramic objects ever to come up for sale. On April 4, 2012, Sotheby’s in Hong Kong  (sale HK0367) is offering a Ru-ware brush washer in its sale entitled Ru From a Japanese Collection.

Ru (also called Ju) is the zenith of Chinese ceramic art. Made in the Northern Song dynasty in the Twelfth century, very little Ru was made to begin with, and most of the surviving pieces (fewer then 100) are in museums. So this opportunity to obtain the brush washer is really a red-letter day. The piece is so important that the entire auction consists of just this single bowl.

I have been planning to write about Ru ware for a while, but I want to revisit the Palace Museum again first, which boasts the world’s finest collection of these pieces. What makes Ru so special? First is the remarkable potting of the shapes. In the present brush washer, notice the overall perfection of form, the thinness of the body, and the elegance with which the lobes or points are formed.

The main glory of Ru ware, however, is the magnificent glaze, normally a robin’s-egg blue, with a distinctive pattern of crazing. It is difficult to photograph the beauty of the glaze, because the way the light both penetrates and is reflected back is quite dynamic. The play of color and light needs to be witnessed in person.

Close-up of the glaze and craquelure pattern.

Because the ware was so fine, the potters needed a way of supporting it in the kiln which would not damage the glaze, so the pieces rested on small spurs which left characteristic “sesame seed” marks on the bottoms of the pieces.

The back of the bowl, showing the famous sesame-seed kiln marks.

The condition report acknowledges a small amount of rim damage, which is visible in the overhead shot. Sotheby’s estimate for this lot is sixty to eighty million Hong Kong dollars, roughly eight to ten million U.S. dollars. This is a true museum piece, and one of the few times a piece of this beauty, rarity and importance is offered for sale.

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Update! The auction has ended, and this bowl including buyer's premium sold for HK$208 million, or US$27 million. I am sure that this will start droves of discussions on the state of the market, and where the money is coming from, etc., but the fact remains that pieces this rare and extraordinary will always command a lot of attention and create record-breaking prices.

All photos from www.sothebys.com

The Maple Sugar Season--A Nostalgic Look

Sugaring gets in your blood. When the first thaws of spring arrive, it’s time to get out in the woods and start making maple syrup. After being cooped up all winter, the outdoors and the sometimes heavy exercise of the sugar operation are most welcome.

I sugared for many years in Cleveland, and that is the activity and time of the year that I now miss most living in Taiwan. Looking at nineteenth-century and other early sugaring photographs, I can temporarily trade my all-too-real wool gathering for some imaginary sap gathering.

Everything needed to get started—a sugar house with a ventilator on top, a covered woodpile, early spring weather with some leftover rags of snow, and a ready crew.

  

These willing workers from Sutton, Quebec are standing by with their sap buckets. Notice that the woman on the end is a giant—literally head and shoulders above the rest!

 The sugaring process is very straightforward in essence. Maple syrup is simply the watery sap of the maple tree boiled down, nothing added except heat. To tap the trees, a small hole is drilled in the trunk of the tree, and a metal tube called a spile is inserted. A bucket is hung on the spile to collect the dripping sap.

William Augustus Balliet (1828-1918) from Woodcock Township, Pennsylvania, demonstrates his tapping technique.

The sap is laboriously gathered by carrying the full buckets through the spring woods. Because the trees are usually some distance from the sugar house, intermediate gathering tanks are employed. In the past these were placed on sledges and drawn by horses. The inverted-cone shape helped prevent sloshing when dragged over the uneven ground.

Murray C. Benjamin of Utica, New York checking a sap bucket. What sugaring stories this old-timer could tell.

Children love to help, but this one is bundled up so tightly I doubt he can move much.

The sap ultimately ends up at the sugar house. At first thin and watery, it is boiled down in large flat pans placed over the roaring fire of the evaporator, until the familiar syrup emerges. With a water-to-sugar ratio of roughly 35 to 1, so much steam is driven off that sugar houses are built with large ventilators on top for the steam to escape. These plumes of steam, visible for a considerable distance, are the surest sign that the season is underway.

Ready for a big season with plenty of wood, all cut by the Mr. Benjamin mentioned above. Clouds of steam show that the evaporator is already at work.

Oxen instead of horses, a better roof to protect the woodpile, and a clear view of the top ventilator before the evaporator has started.

 

These huge iron kettles, not to mention the old-fashioned costumes, were already archaic when this photo was taken. A romantic recreation of Colonial-era sugaring techniques.

In addition to processing the sugar, the maple season is a wonderful time to be out in the woods. In the early spring, everything is just beginning. The buds on the trees and the earliest spring flowers such as coltsfoot are starting to make an appearance. Small creeks run swiftly with melted snows, and one hears the sound of flowing and dripping water everywhere. The odor of the spring woods in unforgettable: sweet, fresh, rank and damp all at the same time. The maple-laden steam from the sugar house adds to this, and when one steps inside, the sweet fragrance is mingled with the sharp smoke and odors of burning wood.

With all the beauty, health and fun that the sugaring season has to offer, the bonus of the maple syrup itself seems almost superfluous. However, each drop of syrup that you have made yourself is imbued with the happy spirit of that all-too-brief time when the sap flows and fleeting opportunity gives a direction to your outdoor activities.

With no leaves or ground cover as yet, one can appreciate the undulating contours of the ground in the Spring woods.

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All photographs from my collection.

The Worst New Product of 2012…so far

Everyone has seen those toy pinwheels whose handle is a clear plastic tube filled with candy. I have also seen them with other toys on top, notably colorful, pose-able hands. These fun toys did not prepare me for what was in the store the other day:

The candy-filled fly swatter. Perhaps the idea is that if the sugar in the candy attracts flies, then you will have a way to dispatch them.

 

It is difficult to think of a less appetizing complement for candy than a fly swatter.

The candy itself reminds me of those sachet pellets my mother once put in drawers and linen closets. That was years ago, but still when removing drawers from chests, we sometimes find those little pellets rolling around inside. I didn't suppose at the time that they were making any impression at all, but coming across them now strongly evokes pleasant memories of the house I grew up in.

I’m not sure if anyone is going to form similar nostalgic memories of these candy fly-swatters. Let me know if you have seen a similar-level product that was yet more appalling. The real question is that now that we have candy fly-swatters, how will the designers crown this achievement? The fact that we know that they will try makes an adventure of walking into the store every day.

Lantern Festival Taipei 2012

This colossal main lantern is several stories high.

Now is the time for Lantern Festival, which marks the end of Chinese new year. Figural lanterns are made by stretching colored paper or fabric over wire frames, and lit from within. Spectacular displays are set up in public areas, and in the evenings, huge crowds go strolling to watch them.

Since this is the Year of the Dragon, many lanterns are dragon-themed, although even in other years dragons are always a popular subject.

The above dragon is made from recycled bottles and drink-cup lids. Recycled materials are very popular for making the lanterns.

To give a better idea of the variety and effect of the lanterns, I am including a lot of illustrations, and very little explanation, so please just scroll through and enjoy—let me know which one is your favorite.

 Lantern Festival was set up this year in the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Plaza. The Taipei 101 Building forms a dramatic backdrop for the display.

I don’t know whether this is supposed to be a dinosaur or an alligator, or what happened to its snout—there seems to be an epidemic.

     (All above photos by the author.)





There is another type of lantern known as sky lanterns, which are like little hot air balloons.  Prayers or lucky wishes are written in red on the sides, then the fire is lit and the lanterns go soaring up to heaven. It is a dramatic and beautiful sight to watch them rise into the sky. 

Pingxi sky lanterns, Photo by Rick Yi, Taiwan News from www.culture.tw 

The small reserve of fuel is supposed to be exhausted quickly, but often the wind tips the lanterns as they are rising, and the paper shells burst into flame and come plummeting back to earth. If I were a property owner I would worry about the fire hazard, but I guess people figure that if buildings can survive the Taiwan electrical and building codes, not to mention the fireworks from the first part of Chinese new year, then the mere application of direct flames isn't going to cause any additional harm.

An Astronomical Coincidence at Old Vassar

Recently I was doing a little research on Abbott Lowell Cummings, the famous architectural historian. Cummings is well known as the director of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) for many years, and author of works on early New England architecture.

In an interview conducted when he was given the distinguished Henry Francis duPont Award, sponsored by the Winterthur Museum, Cummings credited his grandmother, Lucretia Amelia Stow Cummings, with having greatly influenced his life: “She was a scientist by training, a Vassar graduate who had studied astronomy. She drilled into me the need to be very factual.”

This mention of astronomy at Vassar rung a bell. Although virtually all of my old photographs are in Ohio, I happen to have in Taiwan some early cabinet photos of Vassar College, including one of “Miss Mitchell, Professor of Astronomy”, and one of the Vassar Observatory.

Maria Mitchell

It turns out that Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was quite an interesting woman. Already a distinguished scientist who among other accomplishments discovered “Miss Mitchell’s Comet” in 1847, she later became the first instructor hired at the newly-formed Vassar College, in 1865.

In 1902, the Maria Mitchell Association was founded to honor her, and this society still operates her birthplace as a museum, as well as the Maria Mitchell Observatory and several other science museums on Nantucket. Wikipedia additionally tells us that she is in the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and that the WWII ship the SS Maria Mitchell as well as the Moon’s Mitchell Crater were named after her.

Observatory at Vassar

Here is an early photo of Vassar’s 19^th century observatory, which in 1865 was the first building to be completed at the new college, demonstrating its commitment both to Miss Mitchell and to a first-class education for women. Today this is also known as the Maria Mitchell Observatory.

Miss Mitchell, parasol at the ready, takes the air with her students.

Miss Mitchell can  be spotted at the base of the observatory stairs. As an aside for the architecturally-minded, this close-up of the arch-top window in action reveals some construction details, and also how double-hung windows were opened from the top as well as the bottom to control ventilation.

It is easy to see why Lucretia Stow admired Maria Mitchell. Dean Rogers of Vassar’s Special Collections department kindly confirmed that Ms. Stow belonged to the Vassar Class of 1874, and that Miss Mitchell was the only astronomy professor until 1886.

Lucretia Stow Cummings herself has not been forgotten. Just last year in a special exhibit, historian Rebecca Edwards honored “Lucretia Stow, who sharply reduced infant mortality rates as head of Connecticut's Public Health Nursing Association, also led a campaign to improve the state's rural schools.”

It is interesting to contemplate the chain of influence involving scholarship, history, and activism, that started back in the early nineteenth century with Maria Mitchell, was transmitted to her student Lucretia Stow, and then in turn to her grandson, Abbott Lowell Cummings, who then influenced many at SPNEA, Yale and elsewhere.

(All original photographs belong to the author.)

Happy New Dragon Year! --Plus a few Old Dragons.

Fragment from a miniature chair, probably a base for a seated god statue.

Today, January 23, 2012, is officially the start of Dragon Year. Dragons are auspicious in Chinese culture, so Dragon Year should be a lucky one. Dragons are common in place names, personal names, and brand names, and their images are everywhere. If you enter a Chinese temple, you will see thousands of dragons deeply carved on every surface.

The word dragon (long) is used to name many everyday objects in Chinese. Translating literally, a faucet is a dragon’s head, a tornado a “dragon spinning wind”,  a lobster is a “dragon shrimp”, and a dinosaur is a terrifying dragon. The common longan or longyan fruit is literally a dragon’s eye. It is similar to a lychee, but more transparent, so the dark stones in the middle show through, really giving the effect of eyeballs:

Some Dragon Eyes (longyan) from last summer.

Chinese dragons are different from Western ones. More reptilian in their design, they are usually rather thin, wingless, and do not breathe fire. In recent times there have been some combined forms--I once saw in Taiwan a giant Santa's sleigh on the roof of a building, pulled by a huge fire-breathing Chinese dragon whose eyes lit up red (eat your heart out, Rudolph). Unfortunately I didn't have my camera that day.

Since my previous post on good luck charms concentrated on newer objects, I decided for the new year to look back at a few of the older dragons I have encountered in my collecting adventures. My opening post featured a carved wooden dragon, which was almost certainly the head of a cane.

At the top of this post is a gilt fragment from a dragon chair, showing three dragons cavorting among the clouds on top of a mountain. Can you make out all three? They are all looking upward and to the left, with their tongues sticking out. More substantial furniture also relied on dragon imagery, as in these wooden armrests below:

I mentioned the use of dragons in temples; smaller ritual objects used at home also employed the symbolism and good luck of dragons. This rather extraordinary small holder for sticks of incense is shaped as a red table, with a protruding gilded dragon’s head and claws. The dragon is proffering a lucky double gourd, and some of the metal incense tubes are still present.

Here is an insert from a votive plaque, its intriguing inscription flanked by gilt dragons: 

Not all dragons were indoors; some adorned the exteriors of public buildings as did this painted, cast-iron dragon face. This piece is fairly large, about a foot across. I am keeping my eyes open to see if I can spot any of these still in situ.

Here is the world’s cutest baby dragon, less than an inch long, stamped into the side of a brass yuan-bao. His whiskers, horns and scales are all evident, although I don’t see any feet—maybe this is some sort of larval stage. The Chinese characters on the bottom mean “pure gold”, which unfortunately in this case is merely wishful thinking.

It seems that nothing is officially Chinese without some reference to or depiction of dragons. Dragon Year is a good opportunity to look around and start noticing them in their great abundance. The only thing left to say is 龍年好, (long nian hao), Happy Year of the Dragon!

Chinese Good Luck Charms

In America you will encounter the occasional lucky horseshoe or four-leaf clover, but in Taiwan good luck charms are truly ubiquitous. There are literally hundreds of different ones, and Chinese New Year is the time they are especially featured.

Large hanging charms of golden coins and yuan bao.

Many of the charms represent money, which in turn symbolizes prosperity in general. After all, what could be luckier than money? These money charms often take the form of actual coins, usually the old Chinese cash which were round with square holes, as seen above. Even more common than coins are yuan bao, the hat-shaped objects which were the traditional Chinese form of gold and silver ingots.

Traditionally gold or silver, yuan bao are also seen here in jade, amber, and crystal.

Jade bi, round jade discs with central holes. 

Jade bi (pronounced bee) like these were ritual objects in ancient China and pre-date coins. They are much used today, and because of their coin-like shape blend in well with other good-luck charms. Below some bi form a yuan bao, while others are printed to resemble coins.

Strings of charms with yuan bao, bi, and coins

A Chinese money god holds a yuan bao and sits on a pile of golden coins and more yuan bao.]

Many fruits and vegetables are lucky. A yellow or orange color symbolizes gold and money, while many seeds indicate abundance and prosperity. Although they never existed in ancient China, sweet corn and peanuts are now so popular that they are as familiar in lucky charms as they are to eat.

The orange above represents prosperity and abundance, as do the ears of corn below.

If the peanut symbolism isn’t clear enough, these are additionally stamped with the words for happiness and luck.

Chinese years work on a 12-year repeating cycle, with a special animal for each year: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat or Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. This year (Jan 23, 2012 – Feb  9, 2013) is a Dragon year, so I plan to cover dragons more thoroughly in another post. Whatever year you are born in becomes your special lucky piece. For example, if you are born in a monkey year, then you are considered a ‘monkey’, and will always want to wear or display monkey charms.

Goat Year is long over, but this lucky goat charm continues to serve.

All the zodiac animals take part in this string of ceramic charms

You likely noticed in several of the photos that the charms are tied with elaborate knots, usually with red string. These special lucky knots are a traditional Chinese craft, and some charms consist of knots all by themselves. A couple of major lucky symbols that I cannot omit are ruyi, a kind of good-luck scepter, and bats, already covered previously.  Real firecrackers, useful in scaring away evil spirits, go off constantly during Chinese New Year, and fake firecrackers of all sizes are also seen everywhere: 

These firecrackers are one foot high not including the ‘fuses’.

The Taipei 101 building, for a while the tallest building in the world. (Photo from Wikipedia)

A close-up reveals pendant ruyi hanging above giant lucky coins, presumably symbolizing how much money you’ll need to shop in the boutiques inside

These examples barely scratch the surface of Chinese good luck symbols. Let me know if you have a favorite good-luck charm of your own, either traditional or something that is your personal talisman. Here’s wishing all of you good luck and prosperity for the coming Dragon Year.

The outer charms feature fish; the middle one with Guan Yin is especially made for use in cars, saying “Safety in Traffic” and “Leave happily, Return safely”.]