Organdy

China Monumentis

nospam@example.com (Oriens & Grey) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:33:27 -0700

The first Western book to document the Chinese vocabulary, China Monumentis was written in 1667 by Athanasius Kircher. Originally published in Latin, it became an instant sensation in Europe. Members of the Royal Society, as well as the general scientific community, developed “a great interest in China, including references to Chinese geographical features, architecture, porcelain, chemistry, medicine and tea.”

Although some of Kircher's theories proved quite faulty and skewed, the beautiful and bizarre illustrations of Chinese culture depicted through the eyes of a 17th century Jesuit scholar make this book well worth examining.

Blue China

nospam@example.com (Oriens & Grey) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:33:54 -0700

"I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china."

-Oscar Wilde

16th century Chinese pitcher from the estate of J.P. Morgan by Chinese artisans, Wanli period, with silver gilt mounted by British silversmith, c. 1585.

Still Life with a Chinese Porcelain Jar. Oil on canvas by Dutch painter Willem Kalf, 1669.

[The Kangxi emperor on an inspection tour.] Color on silk by Wang Hui and other artists, 1690s.

Spring’s Peaceful Message. Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk by Giuseppe Castiglione (Chinese name Lang Shining), 1736. (There will be a later feature on Chinese court painter Castiglione.)

My progenitor, Cheng Yaojing, Lord of Lu and General of the Tang Dynasty.

All about Hetian Jade

nospam@example.com (Oriens & Grey) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:26:49 -0700

Not every semi-translucent green stone can be called 'jade.' However, this mistake occurs frequently, perpetuated by merchants eager to bait potential customers. Cheap jade-like stones often mislabeled 'jades' are available at every pricepoint imaginable. These stones include green serpentine, soapstone, serpentine, bowenite, aventurine, green-dyed calcite, green hydrogrossular garnet, amazonite feldspar and green chalcedony.

True jades are considerably rarer, and amongst this distinguished group lies the crème de la crème: Hetian jade.

In Imperial China, this jade was exclusively chosen for the personal seals of Chinese emperors, including the Heshi bi, the most valuable jade piece in Chinese history.

The Chinese have coined it "sheep's fat jade" for its lustrous and opaque qualities and "Stone of Heaven," perhaps for its priceless nature. It was revered as the only stone worthy of befitting emperors and the refined leisure class, and is the choice of master jade artisan Li Bosheng for Oriens & Grey's moneyclips.

Also known as Hotan or Khotan, this rare white stone is prized as the most valuable jade--fetching, by weight, 6 times the price of gold-- and is found only in two riverbeds in Xinjiang, most notably the Hetian River. This river is situated along the Jade Road-- the same route as the Silk Road, though it had been in existence 4,000 years before the latter. Natural supply of Hetian jade is extremely limited, and the resources are estimated to completely disappear within a decade.

Hetian jade miner

Jade rhyton, 1787

Hetian jade vase, recently sold at auction for $291,600.

From the University of Cambridge's Jade: 'Stone of Heaven':

Ownership of jade was a privilege of the richest members of society, particularly the Imperial family. [The Fitzwilliam Museum] collection includes several pieces that belonged to the Emperor Qianlong, who reigned AD 1736–1795, and was the fourth Qing Emperor to rule over the Manchu Empire. An art lover, collector and sponsor, his love of jade inspired him to compose thousands of poems about the stone.

After pacifying the rebels in Xinjiang province in 1758, the Qing court gained access to jade from Khotan. The jade was mined and carefully shipped to Beijing to be carved in the Imperial workshop. Qianlong often emphasised in his poems that jade should not be wasted on common craftsmen – only the most skilled practitioners, capable of amazing feats of beauty, should be allowed to fashion works of art from the jade.

Dandyism Flourishes...

nospam@example.com (Oriens & Grey) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:02:29 -0700

Dandyism flourishes especially in periods of transition, when democracy is not yet all-powerful and the aristocracy is just beginning to totter and fall. Amidst the turmoil of these times, a small group of men who are socially, politically and financially ill at ease—but all of them rich in determination—will conceive the idea of founding a new sort of aristocracy, stronger than the old for it shall be based on the most precious, the most indestructible factors, on the divine gift that neither work nor money can give.
-Charles Baudelaire

Chinese Teahouses Around the World

nospam@example.com (Oriens & Grey) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:57:36 -0700

Originating in China as a place of leisure, the number of tea houses has spread throughout the West but sadly, have diminished throughout China. According to BBC,

Traditional Chinese outdoor tea-houses are under threat from the country's rapid modernisation.

Only a few remain in the western city of Chengdu.

Hundreds of courtyard tea-houses have been demolished in the city since the early 1990s. A construction boom has made it difficult for them to survive.

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Marble House, Newport, RI

"Alva Vanderbilt Belmont commissioned the construction of a Chinese Tea House at the back of the Marble House property in 1912. She celebrated its opening on July 25, 1914 in conjunction with a lavish Chinese costume ball at Marble House."
-Preservation Society of Newport County

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Portland Classical Chinese Garden, Portland, OR

"A year-round wonder, the Portland Classical Chinese Garden is an authentically built Ming Dynasty style garden. This urban oasis of tranquil beauty and harmony, built by Suzhou artisans will inspire and engage all who visit... A teahouse is located within the Garden."
-Travel Portland

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Royal Retreat at Potsdam, Germany

"A typical manifestation of the 18th-century fascination with the East, the Teahouse is Chinese in name only. Although it, too, has a shallow dome and a drum, it is topped with a gilded life-size mandarin holding a parasol, and the drum rises from a tent-shaped roof gaily painted with wavy red, white and green motifs. As for the pavilion itself, it opens onto two terraces where gilt stucco palm trees frame groups of life-size "Chinese" musicians playing some of the most improbable instruments imaginable; near them, also in stucco, life-size tea drinkers are busy pouring and savouring, while, inside, more "Chinese" look down from a trompe l'oeil ceiling at the etageres supporting a collection of Oriental porcelains."
-New York Times

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Huxinting Teahouse, Shanghai

"In Chinese Huxinting means 'mid Lake Pavilion' and was originally the garden of a very powerful government official during the Ming Dynasty. In around 1784 it was renovated and extended by a party of wealthy cotton merchants to be used as a brokerage hall. It was changed back into a tea house in about 1855 and had continued to serve to ever since. Once of the most famous visitors has been Queen Elizabeth II who enjoyed a cup of tea there."
-Sanya China

The Forbidden City

nospam@example.com (Oriens & Grey) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:17:18 -0700