Monthly Archives: April 2014

-6   Here we have a deeply carved dragon on the side of a mahjong box. Isn't he just fabulous?! He definitely has more of the camel's head and lack of mane we expect, and his body is covered with fish-like scales. His claws are somewhat rounded, in keeping with the rounded shapes of the clouds, which here are ruyi-shaped (the mushroom shape often seen in Chinese art.) Note the cross-hatching around the center panel, forming a frame.

channel islands auctions

This set above, auctioned off at Channel Islands Auctions, features a wonderful deep carved front panel. The flaming disk may well be the object he's fixated on, and he's in the sky, seen in the clouds. On both of the boxes we have just looked at, the dragon scene does not relate in any way to the scenes on the other sides of the box. It just must have made the set more appealing to the buyer. Dragons can also appear on box handles. Here is one such example:

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Here's a handsome fellow who definitely was the reason the new owner bought this box!  And now follows a view from the side:

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You can notice his camel-like head, long whiskers, and short backward facing horns. The carved scene he is covering is one of combat, but it does not seem to relate to the dragon whatsoever, unless we take the dragon as the symbol of the ruler and this is a story of a young ruler learning the arts of combat? And now for what has been promised for the last few days: information about those wonderful dragon and pearl photographs we saw. The artist is Liu Bolin, who is represented by Eli Klein Sun Gallery in New York City. Liu Bolin has been dubbed the Invisible Man, because very often  viewers do not know that they are seeing him when they are looking  at one of his photographs. In many ways, it is similar to many of us who don't know what we are seeing when we look at the art on Mahjong tiles and sets, but we are learning!

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Above is the artist posed in front of yet another dragon from the 9 Dragon Wall in Beihai Park in Beijing, with the wall seen in its entirety in the photograph below. There is another 9 Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City.

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We thank the people at Klein Sun Gallery, and invite you to explore more of the art and artists represented there.

To learn more about Liu Bolin, here are a few links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Bolin

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/11/liu-bolin-the-invisible-man/100623/

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/04/06/134666588/chinese-artist-attempts-to-blend-in-literally  

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Dragons also appear on painted and lacquered boxes. You  may remember seeing this dragon Mahjong box before, but it is hard to  get tired of dragons! Here you can clearly see the dragon, frolicking in the clouds and partly obscured by them. His body is covered in scales, whiskers and horns are seen on his head, his five toes are splayed, and the flaming symbol of wisdom is within his sights. ( On this box, as in other Chinese art, fire is shown by squiggly lines like those just in front of the dragon and surrounding the "pearl", and clouds are those large round shapes, although they can often be much smaller.) If the dragon represents the ruler of China, as was believed, it certainly would be good if he were able to get  a hold of that wisdom right within his grasp!

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On another post we had a different interpretation of the dragon and pearl, but in Chinese art several different interpretations often are correct.

 

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This dragon and disk is from another Mahjong box. The dragon is leonine, down to the mane surrounding his head. You'll notice the scales of the dragon are different than the ones on the other box, much bigger and less reptilian. The silver inlay is not actually silver, nor is it paint. Rather it is paktong, a substance also known as cupronickel. Paktong is an anglicization of the Chinese word. It can be found on box handles and other box trim, so if you have silver looking handles or trim on your box, it may well be paktong. The above box is in the process of being restored, having lost some lacquer, etc. A photo will be taken when it comes back.

From wikipedia:

"Cupronickel or copper-nickel is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese." 

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"A more familiar common use is in silver-coloured modern circulation coins. A typical mix is 75% copper, 25% nickel, and a trace amount of manganese. In the past, true silver coins were debased with cupronickel. Despite high copper content, cupronickel is silver in color."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupronickel

And now for our dragon photo of the day:

Liu Bolin Eli Klein

 

Here you see the dragon and "pearl." He is in the water's waves, his body with large scales has flames surrounding his  limbs, and his claws certainly resemble those of a hawk!

Information about this and the other dragon images seen the last few days will appear on April 3rd.

KH D&P 9

These beautiful lacquer racks belonging to Katherine Hartman showcase some of the wonderful painting you can see on Mahjong accessories. Very talented artists designed and painted racks. The type seen here has  a top shelf that slides back to reveal betting counters stored within. On the above racks, your eye  would have been quickly drawn, by the brightness of the color and the wonderful design, to the dragons and pearl rack, second from the top. We already touched upon this topic, and here we will explore it a bit more in depth in connection with the dragon series, having to do with Mahjong accessories and the dragon and "pearl" pairing.

According to Patricia Bjaaland Welch in Chinese Art  A guide to Visual Motifs and Visual Imagery, the pairing of dragons and pearls (or round disk or jewel) started in the Tang Dynasty (which ran from 618 until 906). She feels Robert D. Mowry offers the right explanation, that the dragon and disk represent elements from two traditions, the dragon from Chinese mythology and the jewel from Buddhism. The "pearl" may not actually be a pearl but a talismanic jewel that symbolizes wisdom. Welch adds the jewel often is seen surrounded by flames, adding to the belief that it represents the sun, but flames are often seen in Buddhist art, symbolizing magical powers.

MET Museum Drag robe

We saw this dragon robe (Qing Dynasty) from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on an earlier post. You'll note here the dragon is surrounding a flaming object. Here it certainly does not resemble a pearl, but more like a disk, adding credence to the disk or jewel interpretation.

 

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Above is a porcelain bowl from the Lucas Collection. You'll see a round disk, somewhat resembling a sand dollar, right in front of the dragon.

 

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Above is another lacquer rack, quite different in appearance than the first dragon rack we saw. The dragons are hidden in the clouds, represented by the circular swirls. Two dragons surround the flaming disk; this type of two dragon rack is used by three out of the four players at a table.

 

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The original East player has one with just one dragon.

 

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And another wonderful dragon and "pearl" screen shot. Come visit the site tomorrow for another "photograph screen shot" and the information behind it.