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Transformation of the Stone

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AntPeople
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« on: June 21, 2016, 04:44:21 am »

When an agate or crystal bottle reached the hand of a snuff bottle inside painter, it might had already went through a series of amazing transformation. From its raw and original state, the lapidaries must be able to foresee the hidden treasure within the stone to fully transform a raw piece of material to its unique attributes. A cut at a different angle, a slice too shallow or too deep, might just destroy the intrinsic beauty of the stone forever. “You will need to talk to the Stone”, they will tell you.

Let us now take a look at the amazing transformation of a “Jade Belt” Agate bottle in the hand of Master Zhang Yong(張勇),an inside painter based in HengSui.





These are the pictures showing the natural beauty of the “Jade Belt” Agate bottle before painting. The deep orange semi-circular patch is by itself a beautiful sunrise or sunset scene before any enhancement. The “jade belt” and the white misty inclusion looks like clouds or mist over a mountain range.

In the hands of an inner painter, the second stage of transformation begins.

First, Master Zhang Yong conceptualized the overall theme for the bottle. He saw the possibility of painting his favor patriotic General – Yue Fei(岳飞), together with calligraphy works of two poetry that were written by the General himself. This bottle with its original sunset like scenery and wide surface area become a perfect canvas for such a painting with plenty of space to execute the calligraphy works.

Master Zhang then began to prepare the underlying or the background colors for his subject. He enhanced the coloration around the semi-circular inclusion to depict a sunset scene. He then worked on the foreground and painted a hill covered with shrubs and vegetation. The valley was also given a faint coat of red that conveyed the beautiful, yet lonely sunset seen by the General at the frontline.




The other side of the bottle was treated with the same procedure. This time, a scenery of a cold morning with the sun just raising above the horizon was being prepared for the main subject.



Finally, the lonely General, on his horse back, carrying his formidable spear was drawn facing the setting sun on one side of the bottle. On the other, the silhouette of Yue Fei leading his army into the battle at sunrise was drawn. Master Zhang also displayed his calligraphy skill on both side of the bottle. The side of the lone hero had his most famous poetry “The River of Red” (满江红) written across it while the other side of the bottle has another poetry by the general “The mountains in front” ( 小重山) span across the width of the bottle.





Master Zhang Yong cleverly integrated the beautiful natural features within the agate bottle into the composition of his painting and calligraphy. The orange semi-circle became the setting sun and the “Jade Belt” formed the clouds between the General and the setting sun on one side and the cold morning mist at daybreak on the other side of the bottle. The overall drawing is harmonious and pleasing, displaying the beauty of Mother Nature alongside with the unique art form of Chinese’s inside painting and calligraphy.



Pin
« Last Edit: June 21, 2016, 05:38:43 am by AntPeople » Report Spam   Logged

五花馬,千金裘。呼兒將出換美酒,與爾同銷萬古愁。

http://www.chinese-snuff-bottle.com

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rpfstoneman
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« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2016, 10:55:43 am »

 
Pin,

This is an exceptional depictive representation on the creativity and artistry behind interior painted bottles.  If it is your own words and draft, quite impressive.  If just sharing someone else's work, it is still very much appreciated.  Such content gives those just entering the interior painted world a better perspective on just how these works of art are created.   Thanks for putting this together.

Charll
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Charll K Stoneman, Eureka, California USA, Collector Since 1979.

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« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2016, 03:03:26 pm »

Really wonderful post and painting by Zhang Yong. He uses these types of banded agate bottles quite a bit to make scenes like this.

I do not understand the use of the term, "jade belt".  Is that being used to describe the yellow, as in comparing to yellow jade ?
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« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2016, 12:13:11 am »

Hi Charll :

Thanks for the compliments.... Yes, I wrote this short article and the last photo is also taken by me and merge using Photoshop

Hi George :

The description "Jade belt" is used in many area.... Description for banded agate bottle and actually, the term is also used in FengSui whereby a piece of land or house has the left, right and front cuddle by a peaceful, smooth flowing river.

It comes from a Chinese proverb "玉带环腰" which can be translated to "Jade belt around the waist" ..... It's a proverb to descript someone that is rich and/or powerful .... Bec in olden time, only such people can afford a belt that is made of pieces of Jade joined together.

In snuff bottle, any agate bottle that has a white complete ring around the bottle is descripted as a "Jade belt" bottle (玉带壸) The more white band the merrier as it signified more belts made in Jade and therefore richer.

Pin
« Last Edit: June 22, 2016, 02:43:22 am by AntPeople » Report Spam   Logged

五花馬,千金裘。呼兒將出換美酒,與爾同銷萬古愁。

http://www.chinese-snuff-bottle.com

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« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2016, 03:31:36 am »

I love it when I learn something new and extra interesting..

Thank you for that Pin !
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« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2016, 04:07:41 am »

A great post Pin!
Thanks for sharing.

Tom
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Collecting since 1971

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« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2016, 04:17:52 am »

Pin

A heartfelt thanks for this piece .  Nice writing and a beautiful bottle !
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Best Regards

Pat
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« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2016, 05:04:27 pm »

Wonderful post Pin.

Did you see this bottle being painted? Are all the photos yours?

Geoff
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« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2016, 08:46:14 pm »

Hi All :

Glad that you like the article.... Thanks

Hi Geoff :

Only the last picture is taken by me.... The rest are taken by ZY and he WeChat them to me for discussion along the way.... We do bounce off ideas about the composition of bottle, placement of the calligraphy etc...... But of course I am not there in HengSui to see it with my own eyes. Anyway, this bottle is quite simple and is basically a combination of 2 others bottles that ZY painted earlier plus modification/addition of the calligraphy...

The bottle was also selected by me from ZY inventories, he has many bottles of all shape, sizes and material kept for later use and within there, he found 3 bottles that has the Jade belt around it.... So I picked 2 bottles out of the 3....

Pin

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五花馬,千金裘。呼兒將出換美酒,與爾同銷萬古愁。

http://www.chinese-snuff-bottle.com

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« Reply #9 on: June 23, 2016, 08:24:28 am »

Pin,
Good job for the sharing !
Time to drink coffee again .
Inn Bok
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« Reply #10 on: June 23, 2016, 10:33:59 am »

Dear Pin,

    A masterful explanation of a masterful bottle! And I also learned the 'new' (to me!) term, 'Jade belt'.
Thank you on all counts.
Best,
Joey
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Joey Silver (Si Zhouyi 義周司), collecting snuff bottles since Feb.1970

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« Reply #11 on: June 24, 2016, 10:26:36 am »

Hi Inn Bok

We will sure find sometime for coffee...!

Joey :

Thanks and hope to see you soon....!

Pin
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五花馬,千金裘。呼兒將出換美酒,與爾同銷萬古愁。

http://www.chinese-snuff-bottle.com

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« Reply #12 on: June 25, 2016, 02:33:22 pm »

Dear Pin,
all, I have been away from the site for some days because I was on holidays and my laptop did start to have some problems. Now I am assembling a new computer and am just trying it. This your thread is a wonderful welcome to this missed site. Thank you dear Pin.
Kind regards
Giovanni
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« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2016, 08:03:50 pm »

Thanks Giovanni

Glad you like it and welcome back.

Pin
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五花馬,千金裘。呼兒將出換美酒,與爾同銷萬古愁。

http://www.chinese-snuff-bottle.com

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