January 2015 - Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

Monthly Archives: January 2015

Clay Forms

January 29, 2015

Volcanic glaze bottle – Jay Kvapil

I never tire of admiring a design that exudes originality and spirit. Sometimes form alone works a treat, with the right balance and originality. Any added decoration would detract from its pure brilliance. Decorative lines, texture and colour can all contribute to the added illusion of depth and combine to manifest rhythm in the design. Overlapping lines and colours support the perception of depth. Sharp edges in the decoration can flatten the depth, as can a lack of tonal diversity. Decorative additions can clash with the shape of a piece, if the lines aren’t harmonic with the form.
The curvilinear shape always presents shifting perspectives and intriguing possibilities on the three dimensional canvas of clay pottery. Asymmetrical patterns and design adds to the allure of a decoration as it offers multiple angles where the piece reflects a shifting appearance. Additional texture can be created with decorative lines, directly carved into a piece or appear with the glaze and natural surface of the clay. The more textured a surface, the larger the object appears.
The mood of a piece can be manipulated with the styles of the lines in both the form and decoration. Vertical lines are yin, expansive, gravity defying, feminine, restless and reflect growth and flexibility. Conversely yang horizontal lines are grounded, masculine, restful, steady, rigid, passive, calm and serene. An assertive mood can be created with bold, straight, solid, sharp, thick, and even lines. A soft, or delicate mood would employ curved, thin, or continuous flowing lines. An edgy feel logically comes from diagonal, disjointed, angular shape and lines. The creative combination of these ‘moods’ can create an excellent dynamic. This was particularly evident in the vivid Art Deco designs.
The most cleverly conceived design can be dismissed in a glance if these creative elements don’t mesh and sometimes if the form isn’t right to begin with, decoration will struggle to save it. The artist uses these design elements to put form to his creative spirit, and ironically, with abandonment of intellectual analysis, the viewer can get closer to appreciating the spirit of the work.
The focus of this post is on forms that are original, or have decoration that effectively enhances the form.

Female figure dish – Edouard Cazaux

Modernist ceramic vessel by Alessandro Mendini,- Superego Edition

Italy

Val Cushing

USA 1931

Anne Currier

A graceful Korean celadon glaze porcelain ewer, designed to resemble a bamboo shoot.

Museum of FIne Arts in Boston, 12th century

Tall textured copper reds and green vase – Brother Thomas

Globular Art Deco vase – Camille Faure

Carlos Versluys ceramic handpainted pitcher

Ceramic burner with decentralized neck – Catherine of Siena, Italy

Japanese influenced raku vessel – Meredith McGriff, Indiana

Caught Up In Clay – etsy

Cecilia Boivie – sheep figurines

Davis Vachon

Ceramic bottle mid-century – Clyde Burt

Yellow crater glaze vessel Michael Hamlin Smith

Abstract vessel, twin necks – Davide Salvadore

‘Tyto 1’ – Daina & Francis- Elemental Artifacts

Stylized barn owl sculpture in graphite colored mica flecked stone. Mounted on a bronzed patinaed steel base

Art Deco bowl – Emile Jacques Ruhlmann

France

Enno Jäkel contemporary vessel

‘Roma’ – Giuliano Malimpensa palladium sculptural vessel

ponteonline.com

Jim & Shirl – ‘Parmentier’

Kato Yasukage, Joan B. Mirviss

Sofaexpo

Kazuo Yagi — Futakuchi Tsubo

1950

‘Fishwife’s Birthday Teapot’ sculpture by Natasha Dikareva.

Incised stoneware Vessel – Guido Gamboni

Larry Halvorsen

Handbuilt vessel – Leza Mcvey

USA 4o’s

‘Listening to Waves’ vase – Sakiyama Takayuki

Heisei period-(1989–present), 2004

Lucie Vase

Marianne de Trey

Meissen Porcelain Factory ceramic lidded vessel

Michelle Mendlowitz contemporary ceramic bottle

‘Kassandra’ – Peter Mandl

Höllviken, Sweden

Kerry Hastings

Koloman Moser vase for Loetz

‘On a Dark Wing of a Wave’ Jacques Vesery

Wood Fired Ceramic Vessel – Paul Soldner

Robert Hessler—Crystalline glazed bottle

‘Puzzle Pot 1’ – Ron Mello

This particular piece was wheel thrown, burnished and initially sagger fired. Then the piece was cracked and broken into several pieces. Each was then fired or treated with a different technique and reassembled.

Shimaoka Tatsuzo

Two Turquoise Glazed Stoneware Vases by Stig Lindberg for Gustavsberg, Sweden

1955

Tessa Wolfe Murray

israel-ceramics.org

Art Nouveau vases in the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio

Maria C – flickr

‘Second Amendment Urn’ – Yoko Sekino Bové

Porcelain with sgraffito, brushed glaze, fired to cone 5 in oxidation, with luster, 2011

10 in. (25 cm) in height

Japanese Endo Period crackle glaze bottle

Peter Layton glass vessel

Mattson’s Fine Art

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Creative Ceramic Tile

January 23, 2015

A collection of various innovative ceramic tile artists, past and present.

Motawi Tileworks

The Motawi Tileworks was began in 1992, when Nawal Motawi set up a table at a farmers market and received a commission to create her first local fireplace installation. Today, their handcrafted tiles can be found in homes nationwide. The tiles are currently produced in a studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan and represent an eclectic mix of historical decorative art styles including block prints by Yoshiko Yamamoto, the graphic art of Frank Lloyd Wright, the De Stijl Movement, Art Nouveau, Mary Chase Stratton, Adelaide Robineau, Louis Sullivan, C.F. Voysey, William DeMorgan and Dard Hunter.

Motawi Tiles now consists of the sibling duo of Karim and Nawal Motawi and their staff of talented artisans. Nawal studied sculpture and ceramics at the University of Michigan and learned tile-making at Pewabic Pottery. Karim, also educated at the U of M, runs the production studio and teaches tile-making classes.

Motawi’s polychrome tile decorators are affectionately referred to as “the Bee Gees,” short for “bulb glazers,” because they use bulb syringes to pool glaze onto the tiles. In this centuries-old technique—called cuenca, or simply raised-line—color areas are separated by the tiny ridges of clay that are formed in the pressing process.

Site Link

‘Confetti’ – Motawi Tileworks

Frank Lloyd Wright style ‘March Balloons’ Tile -Motawi Tileworks

Koi tile mural – Motawi Tileworks

Motawi Tileworks – Tile inspired from the Hoffman House Rug- Frank Lloyd Wright

‘Limp on a Limb’ – Motawi Tileworks

Grey blue ‘Songbirds’ – Motawi Tileworks

‘Autumn Edibles’ – Motawi Tileworks

‘Frozen Spheres’ – Motawi Tileworks

Motawi ‘Bleeding Heart’ Tile

Janice L. Walrafen

Janice grew up in the Senoran desert of Arizona with her artist/potter mother and two sisters. She currently resides along the Winooski River in Plainfield Vermont among the wise white pine, sweet cedar, fiddleheads, cattails, wild and domestic creatures that share her home and garden; red squirrel, crow, turkey, deer, jay, merganser, fox, owl, mink, weasel, otter, chickadee, yellow finch, grouse, woodpecker, goose, duck, canine, and human friends. All an influence on her art.

Her decorative relief tiles are created by pressing clay into an original plaster mold. Each tile is then carefully dried, fired and hand painted with studio-made glazes, fired a second time to a stoneware temperature of 2200 degrees, creating colorful and unique tiles.

Site link

‘Beautiful Birches’ Janice L. Walrafen

‘Mermaid’ – Janice L. Walrafen

‘Pheasants’ – Janice L.Walrafen

‘Ravens Wood’ – Janice L. Walrafen

Chris Gryder

“I create sculptural ceramic objects that engage with a deep sense of time and history; a geological time and the time of civilizations. There is a visceral joy, a complete indulgence in tactile geometric form that evokes a world where wonder still reigns. A place at the edge of the wild.”

Site Link

‘Candy Mountain’ by Chris Gryder

‘Burst’ – Chris Gryder, Ceramic panels

27in-x-27in-x-2in

‘Sectio Auria’ – Bas Relief Sculpture – Chris Gryder

Roanoke, Virginia, United-States

‘Infinity Squared’ – Chris Gryder

Medicine Bluff Studio

Medicine Bluff Studio began in 2001 and is co-owned by John and Debbie Beasley. John designs and sculpts all the products from his studio in Florence, Kentucky.

Site Link

Heron Tile – Medicine Bluff Studio

4×8 inches

Medicine Bluff – ‘Koi’

‘Mother to be’ – Medicine Bluff Studio

Medicine Bluff Studio ‘Peacock’ wall panel tile

Ellen Rundle

“My studio is in my home where I live in Granada Hills. When I am working on a large jobs it seems my entire property becomes engulfed in clay pieces and equipment. Clay is a material that you have to “live” with since there are many steps in the process and each one requires that the material be in a particular stage of drying before the firing and glazing processes begin. There is always an element of surprise!”

Site Link

Ellen-Rundle Tree Of Life fountain

Ellen Rundle ‘Tree Of Life’ fountain

Ellen Rundle ceramic sculpture murallete inspired by St. Marks Basilica, Venice

27×36 inches

Creative Concepts – Los Angeles

Site Link

Reproduction of the fountain mural at the Adamson house in Malibu, California

Creative Concepts, LA

Twin Peacock Wall Mural

Creative Concepts

A gothic cloister of majolica tiles at Santa Chiara in Naples (14th century) by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, Painters Giuseppe and Donato Massa

1739-1742

Art Nouveau majolica tile

Lisboa Azulejos white and blue tilework

Casa Batllo, Barcelona – design Antoni Gaudi

Harris Strong

Tiled balcony – Lake Como, Italy

John & Tina Reid, Flickr

Tiled steps in Rio

A photo sent by my eldest son Curtiss from his travels through S.America

City Palace – Jaipur, India

Raku Zebra Tiled Panel – Jill Gerlach, flickr

Nouveau style ‘Ginkgo’ tile – Lewellen Studio

Lynne Meade

Tiled Mural at the Montelupo Fiorentino Italian ceramics trade festival

Celtic style carved relief tile – Earthesong

Motawi Caribbean Blue Collage Fireplace by Michelle Nelson Design

Patchwork kitchen floor tiles

Azulejos wall mural – Church of St. John the Evangelist, Cadaval Palace, Evora

Spanish wall fountain with hand painted tiles.

Art Nouveau Majolica Ceramic Tile

France – 1890-to-1910

Talavera Tile Fountain, Mexico

Russ Bowling-Flickr

Azure Blue Pool, Hearst Castle

San Simeon, California

Indian ceramic wall tiles

photo Umair Ghani

Mid Century Triptych Tile Panel by Panos Valsamakis

Gothic Pewabic Pottery Tiling by Mary Chase Stratton

St. Paul’s Cathedral-Detroit

Majolica Tiles at the Monastery Santa Chiara, Naples

Van Briggle tiles, Colorado Springs

Longwy Primavera trivet – ceramic tile with minor crazing

Treadway Toomey

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NEW POST — ‘Clay Forms’

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Circus performance in arts

January 15, 2015

Harlequin by Emin Guliyev

The circus through the ages

Around 500BC, the first Etruscan king of Rome introduced games from Etruria into the Roman Republic at an open air venue called the Circus Maximus (Great Circus), which eventually had a seated capacity for approximately 150,000 spectators. These organized spectacles for the masses included chariot racing, gladiators and sports events. It is recorded that in the 2nd century BC, dancers, scenic artists and flute players were featured along with the use of over 100 wild animals including leopards, elephants and bears in venatio productions. (animal hunting) This circus was U shaped, and similar ones were constructed throughout Europe, (the Hippodrome in Constantinople), for chariot racing and other events.
The modern circus, as we know today, was first conceived in 1768 in London, by Philip Astley, where equestrian feats and bareback acrobatics were performed in a wooden amphitheater featuring a circular arena. The circus ring was used because it allowed audiences to keep sight of the riders during their performances and riding in circles made it possible, through the generation of centrifugal force, for riders to keep their balance while performing their tricks. By 1770, acrobats, rope-dancers, and jugglers were also added to the show and eventually exotic animals were introduced. Astley opened the first circus in Paris, the Amphithéâtre Anglois, in 1782.
In 1793, British equestrian John Bill Ricketts opened the first circus in the United States, in Philadelphia, while Charles Hughes, a former member of Astleys company, performed in the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Girl on a circus horse – Tiifany & Co , NY

In 1825 in America, Joshuah Purdy Brown became the first circus entrepreneur to replace the usual wooden construction with a full canvas tent, to allow more mobility and penetration into the rapidly developing new cities in the USA. Circus entrepreneurs Phineas Barnum and William Coup were the first to use rail for transporting their circus, along with the multiple ring circus tent, to increase the capacity. They also introduced the sideshow with more freakish acts and museum oddities.
The circus developed into essentially a visual performing art which was unfettered by language barriers. As a result, it was easily exportable to countries and in 1853 Italian Giuseppe Chiarini took his circus on a world tour. Likewise, the French equestrian Louis Soullier, took his Vienna Circus on a tour of the Balkans and Turkey, then want on to China, where he introduced the circus in 1854. On his return to Europe in 1866, he brought with him Chinese acrobats, who in turn introduced traditional Chinese acts such as perch-pole balancing, diabolo-juggling, plate-spinning and hoop-diving to Western audiences.
The striking visual elements of the circus acts have provided a rich tapestry for interpretation in the arts and most of the details and action from this colorful tradition have been vividly reproduced.

Porcelain circus clown – ebay

“Elephants – The Wonder of the Circus” – Artist Franklin Moody for Porcelaine Ariel

1981

Gabor-Jeno-(1893-1968)-Acrobats Male circus acrobats in red costumes

Gabor Jeno (1893-1968) ‘Acrobats’, 1933

” Clowns – The Heart of the Circus” – Artist Franklin Moody for Porcelaine Ariel

1981

Circus sideshow art

Clown waltz

Silver juggling clown figurine – Tiffany

Clown and horse figurine – Tiffany & Co

Art Deco Clown Decanter – Goebel

1930’s

Sideshow spruiker – Circus Chimera

Photographer Norma I. Quintana from the book Circus: A Traveling Life

A leaping lioness with Warren Lennon

Lennon Bros Circus ( est. 1893 ) is one of only two circuses left in Australia with big cats in the program. The three lions at Lennon’s are now 9 years of age: two females and one male from different litters. They were born and bred in the circus, and are the 12th generation born and bred in Australia.

Barnum & Bailey poster

Vintage midget clown photo

Acrobats at the Chinese National Circus

Circus Scenes Vase – Anna Culliton from the series ” Miss Molly’s Ceramic Circus “

glazed earthenware – 2010

Circus Tiger Balancing on a Ball – Tiffany & Co

Circus dog riding horse – Andree Richmond

Circus clowns on horse – Anna Plonka

Italian Art Deco circus clown – Lenci

37th Monte Carlo circus festival poster

Larisa Churkina – Strongman and acrobat sculpture

French style circus figurines

AuntHattiesAttic – etsy

Marc Chagall – le cirque bleu

PIERROT Clown Porcelain Figurines – Bing & Grondahl (B&G)

Circus in France painting by Frederick Arthur Bridgman

1869-1870

Noritake Porcelain Art Deco Lustre Trinket Dish Ashtray pierrette Clown Figurine

California Pottery lidded clown jar

Franklin Moody – Circus Aerialists

Circus Strongman -etsy

Circus Clown on a Horse – Ann Plonka

Circus contortion girl sculpture – Maria-Paterson

Vase decorated with circus performers – Micheal Kay

Circus training at a young age

‘The Circus’, Marc Chagall

1964

Circus acrobat on elephant trunk

Figurine of a clown playing a squeezebox-Matt Prince

French pierrot clown figurine

Balancing Act, 1962, Harry Ransom Center – Vintage photo of a seal balancing a doll

Krone Circus in Aachen, Germany

Elephant with a tuba trunk figurine

Waylande Gregory?

Ceramic tile ‘Circus’ – Polia Pillin

Ceramic statue ‘Its circus time’ by Sandra Oropeza

Art Deco ‘Flame Leaper’ – Johann Philipp Ferdinand Preiss

Ringling-Brothers-acorbats-by-Nina-Leen for LIFE magazine 1949

Ringling Bros. Circus – Nina Leen

1949

Bronze Jester – Josef Lorenz

‘Clown on the Moon’ – Limoges Hand Painted Box,

Porcelain clown bust – Lladro

Girl riding a horse – Michael Kay

Ringling Brothers circus elephant descending from the carriage of a train on the railway in the Bronx, in New York, April 1, 1963.

AP photo – Paul Rice

Porcelain figurine from Sergey Orlov sculpture

Ceramic creamer – Strangl Pottery

Circus acrobats from Tiffany & Co , NY

Porcelain pierrot candy bowl

Movie “Water For Elephants” – Fox

Painted terracotta “Clowns on Unicycles,” Waylande Gregory

circa 1932

Trapeze Photo – Gaston Paris

Roger Viollet

vintage_stock___circus_9_by_hello_tuesday-d50av5h

Circus clowns

elephantgirl - female circus performer sitting on an elephants knee

Elephantgirl

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Immortal Clay Longevity

January 7, 2015

Symbols of fortune in the ceramic arts

Kiyomizu longevity tea bowl – the bowl has the rounded shape of a tortoise shell and flying crane decoration. Both symbols of longevity.

As the New year starts to gain momentum, its always good to ponder health, prosperity and happiness for the coming year. Many of the ancient cultures had art displaying symbols and sacred objects designed to attract these qualities. Elixirs, amulets, charms, fountains conferring perpetual youth, philosophers stones and countless other procedures were pursued in the name of attaining immortality and longevity. Mystics and immortals that had attained illumination and lived long lives were also revered and remembered through the arts. In China this reached a peak during the Ming and Qing dynasties where motifs and stories relating to a long life became fundamental themes in the decorative arts. This is still prevalent in the Eastern arts, and it has been an excellent means to preserve some of the ancient doctrines and wisdom. The more distant epochs are harder to fathom, but ancient mysteries are still being unraveled. A large diversity of flora and animals also appeared in abundance throughout Eastern cultures, in paintings, garments, statues, ceramics and in furniture carvings. They are regarded as the harbingers of good luck, wealth, and happiness.

Barcelona ceramic phoenix facade – the mythological bird that rises from its own ashes to renewed youth and life.

Unlike the phoenix of the West, the Chinese phoenix does not have the connotation of a bird rising from ashes. The Chinese phoenix symbolizes joy and peace.

Photo by Arnim Schulz on flickr

Qing porcelain gift box set in the shape of the Bagua, used on auspicious occasions and the Chinese New Year for presenting sweets and delicacies.

Bird Of Paradise pitcher – Carlton Ware

This bird is associated with the phoenix. In new Guinea, they believe these birds come from a terrestrial paradise, and call them ” bolon diuata ” ( birds of god )

One of the Eight Immortals – Zhang Guolao

He was a master in the arts of alchemy, herbs and qigong and was a real historical figure.

Jade Dragon Tortoise – symbols of luck and longevity

Yuan Dynasty porcelain vase

Tigers were used for the decoration of amulets and ceramics because they are powerful animals, symbolize heroism, and are believed to be able to eat evil spirits, or at least cause them to flee.

Pair of early 20th century Chinese ceramic Fu Dogs

Statues of guardian lions, known in the West as Fu Dogs, have traditionally stood in front of Chinese Imperial palaces and temples. They were believed to have powerful mythical protective benefits.

Meiping Cloisonne Lotus Vase, China

The spring flowers of magnolias and peonies, are both symbols of wealth. The lotus is the flower of summer’s purity; the chrysanthemum represents the longevity of autumn. Bamboo is a winter plant, symbolic of long life and peace. The chrysanthemum, which blooms late and has to face the winter, symbolizes people who maintain their virtue despite adversity and temptation.

Shousan Buddha

Spinach Jade Foo Lion

Prosperity Vase – Pierre Bounaud
Chinese symbols for good fortune, happiness, longevity, spirit,
love, and endurance grace the vessel to channel positive energies.

potterybypierre.blogspot

Vase with an immortal seated on a lotus blossom, floating among the waves and a large dragon

Teapot decorated with Shou symbols, peaches and bats.

Carved figure of a deity riding a crane while holding a peach branch and coins

Italian twin handled herb jar with a rabbit motif and oak leaves.

1430-1460

RISD Museum

The rabbit is a symbol for luck in both the East and the West. In the East the rabbit represented yin feminine luck, while the dragon was yang masculine luck.

Samurai vessel with flying crane

Lotus koro incense burner with flying crane motif

Ceramic sculpture of a giant tortoise – Julian Jardine

The tortoise (gui 龟) indicates strength and endurance, has a long life-span and is, therefore, an instirnsic symbol for longevity.

Eight immortals in a dragon boat

This phoenix stoneware ewer was among the 240,000 Vietnamese trade ceramics and artifacts recovered from the Cu Lao Cham shipwreck

National Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi.

Porcelain Imari Vase with Carp and Sakura Trees

The carp is a symbol for an abundance of children because it produces many eggs.
A pair of carp symbolizes a harmonious marriage

Porcelain Lobed Dish with Peach of Immortality – Japanese Imari

Tao Hua Yuan by Tao Yuan-ming (translated by Rick Davis and David Steelman)

During the Jin Dynasty, a fisherman from Wuling, while following a stream came across a huge grove of blossoming peach trees. It lined both banks for several hundred paces and included not a single other kind of tree. Petals of the dazzling and fragrant blossoms were falling everywhere in profusion. The peach trees stopped at the stream’s source, where the fisherman came to a mountain with a small opening through which it seemed he could see light. This led him to the mystical kingdom of Shambala. This is how the peach got its reputation.

Japanese Karajishi Shishi Fu Lion – Okimono

Meiji Hirado Fuji Mountain—Dragon in clouds tripod Vase

Leys jar with peanut plant, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

The taoists regarded the peanut as a longevity food. Preferably unroasted.

Korean Goryeo dynasty celadon jar with flying cranes

Five Colored and Blue Underglaze Decoration Porcelain Square Flat Vase With Sea Dragon Pattern

Ming Dynasty -JiaJing Reign

Netsuke persimmon fruit

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA

Kiyomizu ware crane and tortoise longevity pair of teacups

Kraak Porcelain – 1570-1645

In the centre of the dish is an attractive decoration of a flying Chinese bee and a Cicada (insect) perched on a rock in a marshy landscape with flowering peonies and rocks. On the interior wall are four medallions decorated with sunflowers. Also present are the following auspicious symbols –

The ‘Artemisia’ leaf considered to be a symbol of healing and health and considered a good omen. A single peach fruit, ‘Amygdalus persica’ – also known as the fairy fruit. A book scroll with a tassel and ribbon and a ‘lingzhi’ mushroom.

Porcelain Eight Immortals Plate

Jingdezhen, China

Inkstone from the tenth year of QianLong Reign, carved with the symbol of Happiness, an immortal crane and the God of longevity

Qing Dynasty

Reticulated oval plate showing a finely dressed lady walking in a landscape accompanied by a deer,

The deer is the symbol of both longevity and riches. The Taoist physical ” deer exercise ” promotes longevity.

Polly Latham

Round Ceramic incense stick burner with Chinese longevity Shu symbols

Running rabbit carved from mountain mahogany – Netsuke, Japan

Shoulao, God of Longevity, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)

Kangxi period (1662–1722)

The pine tree (song 松) is a very popular symbol for longevity because it is an evergreen and can endure severe winters. The stork (guan 鹳) is believed to live 1,000 years and is also a symbol of longevity. The stork is frequently shown together with pine trees .

Egyptian scarab Art Deco vase

A symbol of rebirth and good fortune

1923

Japanese netsuke depicting the Immortal Kasenko in a cloud

Tenmoku Pottery “fook luk sau” Tea Pot Set

Fook Luk Sau – the Chinese characters mean LUCK and WEALTH (Fook), HAPPINESS and RECOGNITION (Luk), LONGEVITY (Sau).

Vase with immortals bearing the character for longevity (shou)

Ming dynasty

Scholars rock, China

The interest in collecting rocks for religious or aesthetic purposes began with the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) when large stones were used to decorate their gardens and courtyards. Scholar’s Rocks (or Gongshi) were stones that were chosen if they resembled or represented mythological and famous mountains and were used by scholars as objects of meditation.

The qilin (麒麟) or Chinese unicorn represents good luck , prosperity, goodwill and benevolence.

It is described as having a deer’s body, an ox’s tail, fish scales, five-toed hoofed feet and a horn on its head.

Wedgewood willow plate

The willow (liu 柳) branches were regarded as being magical and became associated with the life of scholars and poets who drew inspiration while strolling among them.