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Suo Zhenhai -"Magic In Hand" The Mike Ma 'Hong Yuan' Collection Book

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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« on: January 27, 2013, 09:54:51 am »

Hi All

I have  just  finished    scanning  Mike Ma's  'Hong Yuan'  Collection  epic  book  of  Suo  Zhenhai's   VMIPBs.
It's  called  " Magic  In Hand"

This   book was  reviewed  in the   ICSBS  Journal   about  a year  ago   and   several of  us  made  efforts  to   buy  copies   via  China  Amazon-like   websites.  Misu  bought  a  few  copies  in  BJ  for  Forum members, and   so  did  I for    some  Singapore   members .  But it's a    very  big  book  (  12"   x  12  "   square  and   1 "  thick  @   270  pages )   so  it's  very  heavy :  4.8  lb  = 2.2kg .  No  joke  to carry  in   luggage   !

Hard   copies  are  still  hard  to  come by,  but   David  Osborne  is  (as far as  I know)  still  taking  subscriptions  for a    bulk  buy   for the   American   continent. If  I  was  travelling   frequently to  BJ  as  in the  past  I  would  be   glad to buy  copies  and   ship  out  from  HK,  but  I'm no  longer   doing those   trips , and  frankly the   work  involved  to  package books individually  for  international  shipping  is  a  lot. It  takes   on average   an hour  to   pack a book properly, and  then  there's the  queue  at the  post office.

Therefore  I have  scanned  the  complete book  for  posterity  ( Apologies to  Mike  Ma  if  he  is  reading this, but  I'm sure  he   would   like   the  record  of   his   amazing  collection to  be  distributed  far beyond  where  his  book  can  travel)

But  scanning  is a  loooooooong   and  haaaaard  process...   Cry

Our  HK office  has a  super-professional  work  station that   photo-copies/ prints/ scans /  whatever.  It's a  huge   machine  and  every  time  I use  it  I have to  remember  how  to  program it  for the   hi- res  scans  I need (typically  2MB  for  an A4  page  in color).  It  takes  on average   30  seconds   to scan a page  - the  majority  of   which  time  is  the  physical  effort and time to lift up  and   open  the book, and  centre  it   squarely  on the  scanner (nothing  is worse than a   scan that is  5-10  deg   off  square)   because   the  scan process  itself  only takes  a  couple  of seconds.

I always   cuss  myself  over this  stage  because  I get   tired  towards the  end  of a   1 -2  hour  scan  marathon and   don't   make the  effort to   place the  book   properly  on the  scanner.  A  few  extra  seconds  effort  / page  at this  preliminary stage saves  tens  of  minutes / page   later to do the  corrections and  re-scans

But then  comes  the  really  hard  work, because   every  page  has to be  cropped and   titled.  That  can take   several  hours , especially because   for   ease  of  scanning  half the  pages  are  best to be  scanned  upside  down  and  so finally  must  be   turned  back   through  180  deg  by software .

The  objective is  to  make  every  title  number  the   same  as the  actual  page  number. I have  learned a  few   short-circuit   tricks  to do all these  things, but  even  the Microsoft   Picture  Manager   program (standard  with  Windows)  takes  about   30-60  seconds  time to    execute  a   crop   and/ or   rotate . ( Hint  :  crop   and  complete  before  you  rotate  !   Otherwise  you   lose  half the  pic )

Then  strange   inexplicable  things   start to  happen  -  some  pics   go   fuzzy  after  cropping,  some  pics   don't  crop  properly  and have to be   re-cropped....  and  some  pics  just   vanish   forever  - don't ask me  how or  where they   go ,   but  it  happens: the   title   remains  but the   pic  is  a  total  blank  (Golden   rule:  create  at least   two  back-up   files  of the  the complete  scan before  ever  starting to  crop and   rotate) .

Then  one   finds  that  despite  one's best efforts   some scans  are  not     exactly  square  so the   bad pages  must be  re-scanned  and  slotted  back in the page  sequence.  And   then  one  finds   one  has  missed  out a  couple  of  pages  so all the  subequent   page  numbers  are  out of  step ( hint  :  watch the   machine  scan  serial  numbers   and make sure they   increase  in line  with the   actual  page  numbers) . 

And  .. and...  and  !

Anyway  the  end   result  is   two things :

1.   A  beautiful  scan  which  one  can  pass  on to  others  free of  charge  (This  SZH scan is over  500  MB. )

2.    Because of  all the  problems   and  checks  and re-scans  one  ends  up  viewing every  page  over and  over  again  during the   6 - 8  hour  job of  cropping and   titling,  which  literally forces  one to   really  study  every  pic  in detail.

That's a  lot better  than buying a book,  flicking through the pages  casually  for   half an hour, and then   leaving  it  on the  bookshelf for the  next  few  years   unless  for  reference!

So  although it  has  taken me  about   8 - 10  hours to  do this   whole  scan,   that's   8-10  hours  of    concentrated  work  looking  at  Suo Zhenhai's   amazing  art  work.  Well  worth the  time and   effort !

If  any of  you  (  Richard ? )  start to  scan  your  books  please  feel  free to  contact me   for   some  useful  tips

The   Data Base   took thousands of  hours  to   create :  every  pic   was   either  scanned  or  downloaded.  But    that  meant I  studied   every  pic  which you  can now  pull  up  in a  microsecond  once the  Data  Base  is  downloaded to  your  hard  disc.  Happy for  you   to have this   convenience : that's  what the  BD  was   created  for.  And of  course  I  use the  DB  pro-actively myself  several  times  as  day  as  my  personal archiving  system. 

But  putting  together   the   DB   and  studying every  pic  was my real  personal reward   Smiley 

Cheers
Peter

PS : The  SZH book  is  now  in the  latest  version of the  DB


« Last Edit: January 27, 2013, 10:00:30 am by Peter Bentley 彭达理 » Report Spam   Logged

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Wattana
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« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2013, 10:50:10 pm »

Hi Peter,

Bravo! That was a monumental task for posperity. Any volunteers for the 7-volume Bloch Collection?  Grin

It's true, if you are scanning and editing page-by-page, that is absolutely the best way of studying an artist's work! Coincidentally, I was browsing through my copy of the book (courtesy of Misu) over the weekend. I find that each time I open it, I see some aspect of Suo Zhenhai's artistry that I missed on previous browses.

   
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« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2013, 11:02:42 pm »

Great job, Peter!
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Richard from sunny Singapore
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« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2013, 11:01:51 am »

Dear Peter,

YOU R OUR HERO!!!

I can't imagine how much effort and time you have put on your fabious  DB. that  is tons of work which I hate to do myself, since scaning and chopping images is a boring job, don't mention you have to do so many.

Your GREAT job will be appreicated!!

Steven

 
« Last Edit: January 28, 2013, 11:43:56 am by Steven » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2013, 02:57:14 pm »

We appreciate you peter...
thanks, Danna
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Danna
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« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2013, 04:03:49 pm »

Very much appreciate you Peter !

Thank you !
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Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司
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« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2013, 04:10:30 pm »

Peter,
  I've been looking on and off in my copy of the Suo Zhenhai book, and I admire your dedication and fortitude  in transferring all this info to the DB. Impressive!
Joey
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Joey Silver (Si Zhouyi 義周司), collecting snuff bottles since Feb.1970

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« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2013, 03:05:35 am »

Hi Peter,

is there still a chance to get a copy of this file? I just found out that one of my bottles is most probably by Suo Zhenhai!

Regards

Georges
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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2013, 04:14:13 am »

Hi George

Check  your  copy of  my data  base

I think  the version I sent  you  included  my   scan of  the  Mike  Ma  book.

But, in any case,   the  book  won't  help  you much.   There  are  so many   SZH look-alike  bottles  around  that  only a  very  trained   eye  can tell the   difference - which   comes   down to the    signature  itself.

BTW:  real   SZH  bottles  are easy  and  cheap to buy.  David  Osborne  is   regularly  offering  them  for  sale  :  excellent   quality  and   guaranteed  genuine .  Make  sure  you   join his   Snuff Bottle  Club  mailing list

Cheers
Peter

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« Reply #9 on: December 16, 2013, 08:59:34 am »

Hi George

Check  your  copy of  my data  base

I think  the version I sent  you  included  my   scan of  the  Mike  Ma  book.

But, in any case,   the  book  won't  help  you much.   There  are  so many   SZH look-alike  bottles  around  that  only a  very  trained   eye  can tell the   difference - which   comes   down to the    signature  itself.
Thanks for your answer, Peter, but I don't understand this message. What is my copy of your data base?

By the way, several Forum members commented on the picture of my "Suo" bottle and I begin to understand how difficult it is to distinguish between genuine and fake.

Regards

Georges


[/quote]
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Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司
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« Reply #10 on: December 16, 2013, 09:36:05 am »

Dear Georges,
    I think that Peter has confused you momentarily with George, who founded the Forum.
Peter has produced a truly monumental database of modern IPSB artists, and George has a copy.
Best,
  Joey




Hi George

Check  your  copy of  my data  base

I think  the version I sent  you  included  my   scan of  the  Mike  Ma  book.

But, in any case,   the  book  won't  help  you much.   There  are  so many   SZH look-alike  bottles  around  that  only a  very  trained   eye  can tell the   difference - which   comes   down to the    signature  itself.
Thanks for your answer, Peter, but I don't understand this message. What is my copy of your data base?

By the way, several Forum members commented on the picture of my "Suo" bottle and I begin to understand how difficult it is to distinguish between genuine and fake.

Regards

Georges


[/quote]
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Joey Silver (Si Zhouyi 義周司), collecting snuff bottles since Feb.1970

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« Reply #11 on: December 23, 2013, 06:50:21 am »

Great Peter!!!


* 01.jpg (725.85 KB, 1500x1000 - viewed 46 times.)
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« Reply #12 on: December 24, 2013, 12:06:35 am »

Hi Mike,

Just curious, are you in the photo? May I ask which one is you?Smiley

Steven
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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« Reply #13 on: December 24, 2013, 02:17:35 am »

For those  interested to buy   good  quality,  guaranteed  genuine  Suo Zhenhai  bottles   please  DO  register  with  David  Osborne  for  his  Snuff Bottle  Club  auctions

David  bought   all  his  SZH bottles  directly  from  SZH  in the   early 2000's

A  magnificent  'praying mantis'    SZH  bottle   went in  last  week's   auction  at  the  reserve  price  of  US$150 !

Cheers  and  Happy  Christmas to  All
Peter
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« Reply #14 on: December 24, 2013, 04:09:03 am »

Hi Mike,

Just curious, are you in the photo? May I ask which one is you?Smiley

Steven

Hi Steven,
I am not in the photo.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!
MikeChina
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Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司
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« Reply #15 on: December 24, 2013, 04:54:27 am »

Dear Peter,
     I know. I was going to bid on it, but decided to let others get some (I have 7 already). It really did go very cheaply.
 Joey
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Joey Silver (Si Zhouyi 義周司), collecting snuff bottles since Feb.1970

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« Reply #16 on: December 24, 2013, 08:38:37 am »

I agree, I also thought it was a very pretty bottle.  Nice to see that there are still some very affordable bottles out there!!! Jo
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« Reply #17 on: August 18, 2014, 10:55:50 pm »

Hi All

I have  just  finished    scanning  Mike Ma's  'Hong Yuan'  Collection  epic  book  of  Suo  Zhenhai's   VMIPBs.
It's  called  " Magic  In Hand"

This   book was  reviewed  in the   ICSBS  Journal   about  a year  ago   and   several of  us  made  efforts  to   buy  copies   via  China  Amazon-like   websites. 



I just found this topic Peter.. So you can ignore the email I just sent..

Found a copy..
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Wattana
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« Reply #18 on: August 18, 2014, 11:01:46 pm »

Hi All,

There is a very attractive Suo Zhenhai 'ladybug' bottle being offered by David Osborne today. Starting price $285, if anyone is interested in bidding.

Tom
« Last Edit: August 18, 2014, 11:27:14 pm by Wattana » Report Spam   Logged

Collecting since 1971

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