Exhibit of Chinese Art, October 17, 2014, Hosted by David Bell at Willard Straight Hall Art Gallery
Chinese Malachite Tower, 27” high, carved from Pakistan malachite circa 1930 in Peking. Purchased by Peter Tung in Beijing in 1975; broken accidentally in 1986. Originally made to stack as 4 separate pieces; was in 39 pieces, including 4 separately carved sections, and 35 smaller broken pieces. There were dozens of old repairs throughout the remainder of the material. Donated for exhibit at Cornell’s Sesquicentennial event by Peter and Mable Tung of New York. Restoration by Joseph and Pauline Degenfelder with Kasia Maroney of Boston Restoration Ithaca.
Silk Screen, "General Guo Ziyi's 80th Birthday party".
Silk Screen, "The Palace of Nine Perfections".
Chinese ‘room’ with carved art in case, two marble-wood chairs circa 1850 and ‘long-life’ carpet. Calligraphy is the oldest Chinese art. A long life is the goal for the last five millennia. This silk carpet contains one hundred woven characters for long life, taken from many dynasties, and culminating in this set of characters in the Qing dynasty. The carpet was hand-woven in Peking circa 1930, purchased by Tze Tung in Hong Kong in 1952, and brought by Peter and Mable Tung to New York in 1974. It was purchased by Joseph and Pauline Degenfelder for this special exhibit at Cornell.
Kuan Yin ‘born of the lotus’ epitomizes the great ideal of Buddhism as ‘bodhisattva’, who is destined to enter Nirvana, but forgoes this afterlife to save all children of God. She is the goddess of fecundity as well as mercy. This statue shows influence of Christianity, carved for a family in Peking in 1911, and purchased by Tze Tung in Hong Kong in 1954. The carving is in pink rose quartz from Brazil, mounted on a marble base. 20.5” high X 19” wide. (lower right in case)
T'ang-style ceramic horses.
Carved Bone Pagoda
Carved bone tower.
Lapis Lazuli mini-mountain depicts a mountain landscape with two men, a bald bearded figure points the direction for another man. A tree grows behind them. Pavilions and pine trees can be seen in the distant mountains. “The boulder of lapis has been carved according to the Chinese aesthetic of landscape painting, which expresses unison between the rhythm of life and the beauty of nature. The summits are encompassed by swirling, pyrite-flecked clouds.” Late 19th century.
(left) Rose Quartz Phoenix was carved in Beijing in 1975 and purchased by Peter Tung. It stands 11.5” high X 7.5” wide. It is the largest of modern carvings of rose quartz on display.
Goddess of Mercy – Guanyin is a Buddhist deity believed capable of bestowing the blessings of children, wealth, and protection. This figure sits with flowing robes, holding in a scepter in her left arm. Her face is serene. Lazulite is a rare phosphate mineral; this piece is unique in its size and quality. Carved circa 1930; purchased by Tze Tung in 1955; purchased by Joseph and Pauline Degenfelder in 2012.
A female dancer, performing a long-sleeved dance, started in the Western Han (200 BCE) in tombs, also associated with magic or deception. Our dancer has one arm upraised, but not above the head; neither do the sleeves end in fringes. The material is black volcanic obsidian, with a pitted surface, the upraised arm is a quartz inclusion , indicating authenticity; but not age; 32 cm height , 24 cm width, 8 cm deep at base.
Carved jade dragon vases: such vases are in every collection, some of true jade and others in near-jade minerals. The previous owner travelled extensively to China, purchasing this vase in the 1940s in the northeastern region of pre-Communist China.
Two carved jadeite birds: These carvings depict a pair of phoenixes standing on branches of peony plants. Their bodies are twisted, with three smaller birds with black heads created upon discovery by the artist of a black section. Large and smaller peonies complete the work. Each piece is 23” high and 12” wide. These pieces were carved in Peking in 1925 in the twisted society of Republican rule co-existing with regional warlords.
The most famous Jadeite Cabbage is carved (19th century) into the shape of a Chinese cabbage head, with a locust and katydid camouflaged in the leaves. It is part of the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. (Two Chinas of the 20th century.) Our carved rock crystal cabbage utilizes a pure clear form of quartz (early 20th century). Our carved jadeite cabbage was carved circa 1965 in Beijing. The two lowest birds are rose quartz carved in the 2ost century in Beijing.
Lighting display utilizing halogen lamps to show translucence
Jadeite’s three most important qualities are color, transparency, and texture. Jadeite’s transparency ranges from completely opaque to semitransparent. The best jadeite is semitransparent; because light penetrates below the surface, semitransparent jadeite has an alluring brilliance. The least desirable jadeites are completely opaque or have cloudy patches that break up their transparency. The centerpiece jadeite urn is illuminated by three halogen lamps to show the inherent colors of purple and green.
The nephrite form of jade has many colors, caused by ions that in-migrate. Our lead example is ‘black jade’, which you see is actually a mottled, very dark green. (right rear)
Malachite is non-translucent, but the malachite box has a small area of transparency. Malachite carved box in rectangle shape, 5” w x 2” h x 4” d. Carved in Peking, 1975 (left front) . To its right is a small malachite statuette.
Jadeite ’Southern jade’ bowl: This bowl resembles a nephrite bowl from the Qing dynasty (1736-1795), Emperor Qianlong “…this bowl flares gently to a rounded lip, completing a restrained silhouette that imitates contemporary porcelain….The depth of the bowl, its flared rim …are consistent with eighteenth-century production.” (right front).
Art deco jade - This circular box has a flat cover (the belly) containing five sets of identical carvings of bats (symbol of happiness) surrounding an inner circle containing the shou longevity symbol in intaglio. A hollow molding separates the belly from the foot, which is plain (no carvings) and whose reverse side carries a carved label. Under translucence the jade shows veins in original jade ‘egg.’ (left rear)