Paktong, was a Chinese alloy made of copper, nickel and zinc. It was imported during the eighteenth century to Europe in the form of small domestic objects.It's non tarnishing surface was highly praised. At the time, it's rarity caused it's value to exceed that of silver. Qing Dynasty scholars objects are in demand by collectors worldwide.
Qing Dynasty Paktong brush pot and box.
The Bimini glass studio started in Vienna Austria in 1923 by Fritz Lampl and Josef Berger. They specialized in a very fine lampwork technique that featured miniature glass animals inside the stems of drinking glasses, as well as mouth blown and hand made figural stems they produced small sculptures, vases and decanters, etc. In 1938, Fritz Lampl moved to London and started the Orpid glass studio until his death in 1955.
The items below represent the last vestige of British dominance of the Opium trade to China which culminated in the second Opium war that ended in 1860.
The late 19th century Opium pipe with a Malacca stem , turned brass ferules, ivory insulators, and hand of carved sheep horn are reminiscent of the construction of an English walking stick and Georgian silver tea pot. They are of a British manufacture. The ceramic pipe bowl circa 1900 is inlaid with terracotta characters and is of Chinese manufacture. The pierced brass cover of the opium lamp was used to disguise its purpose and was made in China in the early 20th century. The Chinese silver plated brass opium container is decorated with applied dragons and stamped with a Chinese character ( early 20th century). In 1907 China signed an agreement with India ( The source of Britains opium export to China) banning the importation of the drug. Opium paraphernalia continued to be made on the continent until the Chinese Communist Government came to power in 1949.
Among Japanese metalwork techniques, few are as painstakingly time-consuming and demanding of constant, sharp focus as Nunome-Zogan - a gold and silver inlaying process developed and popularized by the famous Komai Otojiro and his family in 1853. The technique starts with a very fine cross etching of the base metal (often a black, mixed metal) , and then continues with the inlaying of thin gold or silver thread to create very intricately detailed scenes. Also known as Japanese Damascene, Nunome Zogan has been applied to a wide range of objects, from combs and buttons to cabinets and shrines. This jewelry box depicted here is inlaid with 22k gold, which is an ideal metal for this method as it is very pliable and soft. There are also some silver accents added to the mountaintop. The mark seems to indicate that it was made by the Ashihara school of Komai in the late Meiji or early Taisho period. A piece such as this would have taken hundreds of hours to complete every detail of its spectacular, miniature landscape.
Such pieces of embroidery were often sewn onto the robes of both civilian and military professionals to denote the rank they held. Birds were commonly represented in the insignia of civilians, whereas a variety of wild animals, often fierce ones to represent courage, decorated those who held a certain rank in the military. Also interesting is that if the badge contained an image of the sun, it was generally meant to be worn by a woman - sometimes the spouse of a ranked official. However, the same symbol appeared on the badges of a special group of operatives within the regime called the censors. They were recruited from among top ranking civilians to investigate the workings of bureaucracy and deter corruption. This particular piece here shows a biao, which is a panther-like creature representing the sixth rank in the military. The blue bats around the border were meant to bring the wearer good luck and happiness, as the word for bat sounded similar to the word for happiness.
All of the items photographed in the blog are avaliable at Maitreya Arts of Asia
