Highlights of this autumn’s new collection for 2024 include Turquoise Garden which depicts a sensitively carved continuous garden scene of a crane flying above chrysanthemums, bamboo, lingzhi and a flowering prunus tree. The crane here is an obvious symbol of longevity, immortality even, with chrysanthemums once again featuring alongside three of the Four Gentlemen of China, prunus and bamboo (四君子). It’s a delightful rendering on opaque yet semi-translucent, turquoise glass and encapsulates the seasonal theme beautifully.
A great counterpoint, not least in terms of rich colour and materiality, is Coral Liu Hai. Another wonderfully carved bottle, this time in unusually high relief particularly on the shoulders where we find the legendary Liu with his three-legged toad. According to one version of the legend, Liu lured the creature out of a well with a string of square-holed coins after which the toad became his aid, helping him to unravel the mysteries of immortality as well as accumulate much material wealth and good fortune. The brilliantly captured expression of deep satisfaction upon Liu’s face certainly suggests this to be the case. The material itself is near flawless with some white speckling, the detail of the lotus flower, rocky outcrop and lingzhi growing near the base all add to a level of craftsmanship that serves to do justice to the material itself.
Another bottle, Imitating Immortality, appears visually very similar to Coral Liu Hai in terms of materials, but is in fact made from semi-translucent coral coloured glass imitating coral. Carved on each main side with four of the attributes of the Eight Immortals, one side with the gourd of Li Tieguai 李鐵拐, the fan of Zhongli Quan 鐘離權, the sword of Lu Dongbing 呂洞賓, and the magic lotus flower of He Xianggu, the other with the basket of flowers of Lan Caihe 藍采和, the clapper boards of Cao Guojiu 曹國舅, the flute of Han Xiangzi 漢湘子, and the fish-skin drum of Zhang Guolao 張果老. All together providing a wonderful reference to this legendary group of xian and their powers, which allegedly could be transferred to a vessel, allowing it to either bestow life or destroy evil.
