image interpretation

Cranes in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 2

Kuan Yin • April 13, 2014

Our last post was about swooping cranes, those often found on One Bam tiles. Now we'll explore standing cranes, more often found in Chinese art and Mahjong.

The crane is both a symbol of longevity and of high rank. As such it is a valued bird in China, and it frequently appears in art.

Above we see a magnificent hanging panel, in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The crane is posed on a rock, standing on one foot, looking toward the ruyi shaped (wish granting) clouds. The swirled forms below the rock are waves. When a crane is seen facing the incoming tide, as here, it means

"May you become an official of the first rank and preside at the court. The crane symbolizes the first civil rank. The tide is a pun for court." Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art by Terese Tse Bartholomew.

This one above, a Flower tile from the collection of Michael Stanwick , features a crane in a position quite similar to the one we just saw above from the Museum. Once again it is posed on a rock, perhaps with very stylized waves below the rock, looking quite a bit like the following photo of a panel dating from the Ming or Qing Dynasty, in the same Boston museum.

On this panel too we have a crane standing on a rock, surrounded by water and flowers.

From another set of tiles we have what probably is a crane, this time near what may be a rock outcropping, enjoying a nice dip in the water. A lotus is seen growing above, right out of the stone. According to Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art by Terese Tse Bartholomew, a crane paired with a lotus means "may you continuously be promoted to the first rank. The crane symbolizes the first rank. Another name for the lotus is lianhua, a pun for "continuous."

How easy it would have been to overlook that symbolic pairing, those two details on that tiny tile. And that's why it is fun to learn more about these symbols, so that we can better understand all the meanings on these tiles we love.

Cranes in Chinese Art and Mahjong

Kuan Yin • April 11, 2014

Cranes are very important symbols in Chinese art. They are said to represent longevity, a theme near and dear to the Chinese (and many other peoples in the world!). According to Patricia Bjaaland Welch, the phoenix is the king of the birds, but the crane is the #1 bird, symbolizing both status and longevity. Interestingly, in Chinese art, unlike what we see on our Mahjong tiles, cranes are normally seen standing or flying upwards. When two cranes are seen together, one standing and one flying upward, the one flying up symbolizes the wish for a good position (job).

In hours of searching through books and on the internet, it was almost impossible to find any images of cranes flying downward, other than on Mahjong tiles! But let's go ahead and enjoy these swooping crane One Bam tile images.

We are starting off with one of the most beautiful cranes in Mahjong, made of mother-of-pearl, part of a set belonging to Bill Price. The small thin wafer is mounted to the back of the tile, believed to be horn, by two small gold nails seen diagonally across from each other, top right and bottom left.

Quite close in design to the one above is this pyralin version made by Pung Chow.

A bone and bamboo version, seen above, is from another set.

There are few images of swooping cranes in Chinese art, and we are grateful reader Ray found one

This lovely plate being auctioned off at Christies shows a swooping crane and a deer, with cranes around the edge of the plate.

Next is another crane that is not actually flying toward the sky:

This plate is in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum, and dates from the Ming Dynasty. Given the presence of two cranes, one on the ground and one in the air, the pairing probably represents good wishes for a good job position. To be truthful, the flying crane is not swooping, but since he does not really look as if he is flying upward, we will count it as another example of a swooping crane in art!!

So we will end this post with two cranes we have seen before:

the above one (note he has gold "just" like the one we started off with)

and this one by the Fulton Company.

We have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous in this post, and don't we love them all?

Phoenix and Peony in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 2

Kuan Yin • April 10, 2014

This lovely porcelain (from Clars Auction House dating from the Republic period) ) shows us a phoenix (actually there are a couple you can see, one is hidden on the far right) standing near a peony, a common theme on porcelains.

Another standing phoenix with peony, this time from Christies.

But here we have a lovely French Ivory standing phoenix, with peony, sent to us by reader Laurie!

It's a lot of detail to fit on one small tile.

This fabulous Mahjong box is inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Isn't it magnificent? You will notice the two phoenixes up at the top, surrounding an irregular round shaped object. I would venture to guess that the brass is a stylized peony. Peony brass hardware similar to that is still made today, so it may not be as wild a guess as it would seem! On top of the brass, of course, is a bat. The bat also appears on the bottom of the cabinet, probably between two plum blossoms. Plum blossoms can be recognized by their five petals.

Phoenix and Peony in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 1

Kuan Yin • April 9, 2014

The above tile has one of the most delightful images we see on One Bams: a phoenix with a peony. Their pairing is important because the phoenix is the king of the birds, and the peony the king of the flowers.

In Chinese art the image of a soaring phoenix holding a peony is rare, and to date I have not been able to find one. What I have found is a soaring phoenix approaching peonies. Following is a detail of a porcelain screen offered by Ruby Auctioneers

and here you can see the phoenix in flight, flying among butterflies and a possible sparrow, approaching a peony.

Another porcelain from the Lucas collection, shows us a phoenix in flight, yet again approaching a peony.

The above vase from John Nicholson shows a phoenix between two peonies.

Here we see the phoenix mid-flight, with a peony in her mouth. The simplicity of the design goes beautifully with the simple though elegant other Bams. The set was made of Resopal by the German Company Hein Plastics in the 1970s, and is similar to the set made in the 1920s or 1930s with the phoenix, seen in the top photograph.

The top phoenix is in the Katherine Hartman collection, and the bottom tray of Bams is in Tony Watson's collection. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tony's collection, and those of you who would like to peruse it again, you can find it here. Tony pointed out on his website how similar the two phoenixes, the old and the new, are.

Dragon and Phoenix in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 2 • 1 Comment

Kuan Yin • April 8, 2014

This is a spectacular lacquer Mahjong box. Notice the fabulous dragon on the right, with his open mouth trying to get the flaming "pearl." The phoenix is on the left, with her head just below her feet, facing toward the dragon. This Mahjong box has been beautifully and elaborately painted, using mostly gold and silver paint, with delicate brushstrokes and great detail.

This photo of a porcelain at Frank Marshall shows the dragon and phoenix together too. The dragon is guarding the top of the vessel, and the rounded forms below him show he is in the clouds. The phoenix is on the lower half, with her beautiful flowing tail, and she's seen flying over the water and the waves (the triangular shapes.) Once again we see the flames, those bright orange squiggles.

These porcelain tiles above, offered by Michaan's, have our beloved pairing again. This time two different dragons are seen with the phoenix, although the phoenix has not changed much. The flaming "pearl" is in the central position again, and stylized clouds surround our couple. Once again, triangular waves are seen at the bottom of the tiles.

Above is another delightful dragon One Dot and Phoenix One Bam, different yet from the ones the other day. You have to look really carefully to see the dragon's head, on the circle's lower right side, his mouth open to catch the flaming "pearl." The phoenix has a wonderful perky look, with her one leg raised as is often seen on Mahjong One Bams.

We end this post with these two beautiful tiles from a set that was broken up years ago. You can see the phoenix on the left, representing the Green Dragon, looking quite the lovely female. The dragon, her leonine husband, is the Red Dragon, soaring in the sky near the flaming "pearl," partly hidden by those rounded clouds similar to what we have been seeing on the other forms of art.

The above tiles and the lacquer box are in Katherine Hartman's collection. The Chinese Bakelite tiles are from the collection of Michael Stanwick:

www.themahjongtileset.co.uk

As always, if you have photographs or write-ups about Mahjong you would like to share, please email me at

kuanyinart@gmail.com

The book I wrote with Ann Israel is being published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

Dragon and Phoenix in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 1

Kuan Yin • April 7, 2014

The other day we had the good fortune to study photographs of a set sent to us by Bill Price. You will remember the tiles in that set are quite special: the One Bam is a phoenix and the One Dot a dragon. If any of you missed it, click here for a real treat.

The dragon and phoenix are a lucky pairing in Chinese art. When seen together, the dragon becomes male, and the phoenix female, and thus they represent good wishes for a happy marriage.

The above platter from the Lucas Collection in Australia shows the two of them, interestingly surrounding a flaming "pearl." The dragon has five toes, putting him in the category of an object that could be owned or worn by a member of the royal family; his whiskers, horns and chops are easily seen; his scales and serpentine body complete the look. The phoenix has a colorful tail and body, and the colors used make her most feminine indeed. They both have flames around them, those orange spiky squiggles. The platter is surrounded by meanders.

You will remember one of the first mahjong sets that was mass produced was made by the Mah-Jongg Sales Company of America. The Green (Dragon) actually is the symbol for phoenix but

the Red (Dragon) is the Chinese word for dragon. So even at the dawn of the game its designers felt it was beneficial to have the good omens of this pairing.

The above coin (from Baldwin's Auction House in Hong Kong) was issued in 1923, the very same year that the Mah-Jongg Sales Company really took the world by storm when it started exporting sets in big numbers to the States and elsewhere. Notice that pairing of the dragon and phoenix. The MJSA, when it used that pairing on its "Dragons" was probably hoping to create a happy marriage between the Mah-Jongg Sales Company and the players using its sets, rules and scoring system.

The good fortune of the pairing continues today. Here are two sides of the same coin, of recent minting. You see the pairing of the dragon and phoenix on the left and that other, all important symbol of China, the Great Wall. Given that the dragon is associated with power and the ruler of China, and the Great Wall certainly represents strength, it is not surprising to find these two symbols on the same coin. Don't forget the phoenix only appears in times of a just ruler, so we have a lot of important symbolism on one coin.

Our reader Katherine Hartman has found the ornate boxes seen above that she uses to house Mahjong sets. You will note the phoenix on the top of the box, and dragons surrounding the sides. As many of you already know, very few boxes were made expressly for Mahjong tiles in the early days of the game; rather other boxes had to be adapted. Some of you probably have to do that these days yourselves, when faced with the sad deterioration of some vintage and antique boxes, so the tradition of adapting boxes for new uses exists today. And should you find boxes that have the wonderful dragon and phoenix pairing, the tiles will have a happy home indeed.

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong: Carved Boxes Part 3

Kuan Yin • April 5, 2014

This fabulous dragon box was auctioned off at the China Arts Auction. Look at the magnificent handle. The dragon's face is at one end, and his scaly body is the handle. and the other end has his tail curled back upon his body.

Here you can clearly see the sculptural quality of the handle which was attached to the top of the box, and not carved as one piece as we saw yesterday, and the rest of the deeply carved box.

Here's another view of the dragon box we saw the other day, sent to us by a reader. This dragon is fabulous: look at his head with its horns, whiskers, bulging eyes, and open mouth with teeth; his long scaly body with dorsal fin, and his hawklike feet with at least one prominent foot on the left with its claws. It is frolicking in the clouds, as can be seen by curlicued cloud-like shapes surrounding him, but look carefully at the smoke he is breathing, and what do you see? A fish!

"A frequently seen image is of a carp swimming and leaping against the current of a river to reach the spawning grounds. This refers to the legend (liyutiaolongmen 鲤鱼跳龙门) that a carp which is able to leap over the mythical "Dragon Gate" will become a dragon. This is an allegory for the persistent effort needed to overcome obstacles." From Primaltrek

http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html

This very sculptural looking dragon looks like he could be on a Mahjong box. This photograph is an indication of the interest the Chinese still have in the dragon as a beloved and important part of their culture. Above is a screen shot somewhat cropped version of a photograph taken by Andy Wong. It's a 3D trompe l'oeil dragon painting or chalk drawing.

Andy Wong's website:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/photos/2013/aug/11/455548/

And we can't leave without one more photograph of Liu Bolin, who is posed in front of the 9 Dragon Wall in Beihai Park in Beijing. From Wikipedia:

"The Nine-Dragon Wall lies north of the Five-Dragon Pavilion. It was built in 1402 and is one of three walls of its kind in China. It is made of glazed bricks of seven-colors. Nine complete dragons playing in the clouds decorate both sides of the wall."

To read more about the park:

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

The very sculptural dragon is very reminiscent of all the deeply carved dragons we have been seeing on Mahjong boxes this week.

Liu Bolin is represented by Klein Sun Gallery, and we thank them for allowing us to share these photographs with you.

http://www.kleinsungallery.com/artist/Liu_Bolin/works/

As always, if you have any comments please email

kuanyinart@gmail.com

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong: Carved Boxes Part 2 • 3 Comments

Kuan Yin • April 4, 2014

I think many of us will have to agree this is one of the most delightful dragon Mahjong boxes we have ever seen. * Instead of having just a deeply carved dragon on the lid, or a beautiful handle, the beautiful handle has become a three dimensional dragon, a piece of sculpture posed on top of the box. Look at the attention paid to him, the mouth with its teeth (tho not too big to be intimidating!), his nose and whiskers, his backward facing horns, his "chops" along the side of his face, five toed detailed claws, and curled tail encircling the back of his body. How fabulous is he? Surrounding him, on the border of the box, are flower petals and bats.

Interestingly on this Mahjong box, it really is all about dragons, unlike some of the other carved boxes we have seen where they simply put in an appearance and go away.

Here's the inside of the box where we see two dragons. If the dragon on the lid looks somewhat friendly, these guys are almost smiling! They are surrounding a circle (the sun?), and the shou symbol, right below it, representing longevity. In Patricia Bjaaland Welch's book Chinese Art A Guide to Visual Motifs and Visual Imagery, the round version of the shou that we see above may mean a wish that a person live his full life span and die a natural death. We also see the four bats above and below the disk, and an endless knot, a Buddhist symbol, just behind each dragon's tail. Each knot represents a long life, uninterrupted by set-backs. (Wolfram Eberhard A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols)

On the above photograph of the box and its Mahjong tiles, if you look carefully you can see there are dragons along the side of the box. The box is the home of a much-sought after Chinese Bakelite set. The tiles have green wafer backs which you can see in the photo. What is so exciting about this particular set, especially in terms of this post, is the One Bam and the One Dot.

This is no ordinary Mahjong One Dot. Instead of being a version of flower or circles, we have a dragon! You can clearly see the dragon's head, his nostrils and backward facing horns. Other parts of his body are seen in the top of the tile, where they resemble mountains, and right below where it resembles a wave, and the rest of his body is hidden either by clouds or water.

And here is the One Bam:

A phoenix! How divine is that! We have a real, fully dragon box housing a Mahjong set with both dragon and phoenix tiles! And the pairing of these two creatures is what we will be covering soon.

We thank Bill Price for sending these photos of his fabulous set to us, allowing us all to enjoy it.

* As many of you know, oftentimes boxes were not made for mahjong sets; rather boxes were appropriated from those often used for jewelry (some of the five drawer versions, or ones with two large opening doors) or in this case a small fully carved box.

The book I wrote with Ann Israel is being published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong: Carved Boxes

Kuan Yin • April 3, 2014

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.

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:

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

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!

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.

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

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 5 • 1 Comment

Kuan Yin • April 2, 2014

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!

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

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."

...

"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:

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.

Mahjong Treasures

Appreciating the Art of Mahjong; A Collector's Guide