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Written by Tom Hoepf
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Beautiful miniature Chinese bottles can be habit forming
As distasteful as the practice of snuff-taking may seem today, the introduction of this tobacco product to China has produced fascinating paraphernalia in the form of exquisitely decorated bottles. Chinese artisans produced snuff bottles long after snuffing fell out of style and continue to make them today. The small handcrafted bottles are rich in Chinese lore and have long been considered collector’s items.
Snuff is finely powdered, sometimes scented tobacco. Soon after explorers brought tobacco from the New World, a popular way to take snuff was by sniffing or inhaling the dry powder through the nose. Europeans who could afford the expensive substance began carrying it small boxes. A person would take a pinch of snuff between thumb and forefinger, place it to his nostril and sniff. A pinch of snuff was sometimes placed on the back on one’s hand and sniffed. Snuff taking was also popular with women of the period.
Click here to read the complete article in the May 2008 issue of Style Century Magazine.
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Written by Karla Klein Albertson
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Traditional Craft Evolves into Modern Sculpture
Bamboo is beautiful.
Bamboo grows rapidly.
I listen to the voice of bamboo.
It tells me many stories.
– Yamaguchi Ryuun, 1999
As indicated in the opening of this poem by a contemporary basket maker, bamboo – rapidly growing and quickly spreading – occupies an important position in Japanese artistic tradition. On the one hand, the delicate fronds of the natural plant appear as a recurring motif on scrolls, ceramics, and metalware. On the other, mature bamboo stalks can be used in various forms to make furniture, carts, and baskets.
A 1999 exhibition catalogue quoted basket artist Minoura Chikuho (b. 1934) on the subject of the material: “Bamboo has a certain tenderness, a breathing quality. When you weave it and pattern it, light passes through it; it is transparent and solid at the same time. |
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