The Hairy Monkey was probably invented in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. The most common Hairy Monkey sculptures feature dancing or posturing monkeys.
Date
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD)
Format
Small, Furry
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
With Magnolia buds used for making its body, cicada torso used for the limbs, and cicada antennae used for the tail. They do it by taking magnolia buds gathered in early spring, when they are covered with a fluffy down, and attaching the heads and legs of cicada carapaces – resembling minuscule lobster claws – which the insects shed in high summer and leave on the trunks of the trees in which they live.
Bending these claws into arms and legs, the artists then set the miniature monkey-like figures in old-fashioned Beijing street scenes, selling toffee apples, playing Chinese checkers, sharpening knives, or grilling lamb kebabs, and place the decorative tableau under glass domes for protection.
Materials
Magnolia buds, Cicada
Usage and Application
Modeled on human actions and scenes from daily life, the handicrafts vividly represent urban life and customs, like barbers, fortune-tellers, hawkers of sugarcoated haws on a stick and so on. Some of the handicrafts form a complete set of artworks, such as "The County Magistrate on Inspection," and "Marriage Series," which were sometimes available at the stalls of temple fair and in the Dong'an Market as well as some toyshops in Quanye Department Store.
In recent years, additional creations of this handicraft, which, while sticking to the traditional subjects, also reflects the real modern life.
Interesting Facts
The creation of hairy monkeys was quite an accident. In the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), there was a drug store named "South Qingren Hall". One day, two assistant chemists in the store, while fiddling with some Chinese medicine, worked out a small monkey-like toy with a shed cicada skin, a hairy white magnolia bud, a bletilla striata (the stem of a kind of plant) and an akebi (another kind of plant).
Their accidental creation caught the attention of the shopkeeper, who then suggested selling the four Chinese medicines in a pack as raw materials for making such toys. Hairy monkeys then became popular as a folk handicraft, but were limited among the small number of folk artists and the banner men ("Banners" is the military organization of the Qing Dynasty).
Though the raw materials are quite simple, the artists are capable of designing exquisite patterns through their observation and perceptual knowledge of a wide range of images. By using the hairy magnolia bud as the body, and adhering the head and claws cut from the cicada to it, they can create artworks of various kinds of shapes and postures.
Enamel Painted Porcelain was pottery that featured unique techniques such as overglaze painting and cloisonné (embedding of minerals). It emerged during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 AD) which dubbed it as Qing porcelain. The Qing imperial court would order custom-made pieces of enamel painted porcelain.
Source
Ordinary Chinese Porcelain
Date
Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 AD)
Relation
White Porcelain, Blue and White Porcelain, Black Porcelain, Celadon
Format
Hard, Smooth, Colourful
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
Applying a variety of over-glaze pigments to decorative schemes of flower, landscape and figurative scenes, these wares have gained great fame in the West. In the eighteenth century, borrowing from techniques in the decoration of metalware, enamel was painted on porcelain to create vivid colors and stunning patterns.
Another piece of rock that has been carved into the shape of a Chinese cabbage head. It even has two insects crawling among the leaves.
Date
Late Qing Dynasty (1644 AD- 1911 AD)
Format
Small, Reflective and bright colour, Smooth texture
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
The cabbage was carved from a single piece of jadeite taking advantage of its half-white, half-green natural colors. The numerous imperfections in the rock such as cracks and discolored blotches were incorporated into the sculpture and became the veins in the cabbage's stalks and leaves.
Materials
Stone, Mineral
Usage and Application
One important reason why carved-jade objects were and still are so highly prized, is because the Chinese believe that jade represents purity, beauty, longevity, and even immortality. In addition, jade carvers valued the stone for its glitter, translucent colors and shades.
This mouth-watering chunk of stewed pork belly with a gratuitous layer of fat and glistening sheen is actually a piece of rock—jasper to be exact—that was cleverly carved and dyed to resemble a succulent piece of meat by an anonymous Qing dynasty artist in the 19th-century.
Date
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD)
Relation
Meat Stone
Format
Rough surface, Layered colours
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
The stone was carved during the Qing dynasty from banded jasper. The layers of the stone accumulated naturally over the years, with various shades of hues. The craftsman who carved the stone stained the skin, which resulted in a realistic looking piece of stone with multiple layers appearing like layers of fat and meat.
What makes this piece of art so special is that the rock naturally looks like a piece of pork belly, with its layers formed by the accumulation of different impurities. The craftsman who made this took the rich natural resources of the stone and carved it with great precision, even rendering the pores, the wrinkles and dimples on the skin.
Materials
Stone
Usage and Application
It is part of the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. Although of only moderate importance from the point of view of art history, it is a great popular favourite with visitors and has become famous.
Jade crafting were among the most precious and luxurious ones, with a history of four thousand years. Jade symbolizes merit, grace and dignity and occupies a special position in people's consciousness. It is used both to decorate rooms, and as jewelry by people hoping for a blessing. People believed that jade was the expression of the most beautiful stone.
Date
Qing Dynasty (1644 AD – 1911 AD)
Format
Hard, Smooth
Type
Craft
Crafts Item Type Metadata
Crafting Methods
Jade items were shaped with sand, cords and drills.
Materials
Jade, Mineral
Usage and Application
Jade was commonly used to create accessories or decorations.