As we approach the summer solstice, our thoughts often turn to the verdant, warmer months that lie ahead. The apex of summer - the season of growth and maturity - is known as Xiazhi in China. The tenth solar term of the traditional lunar calendar and the day the sun reaches its celestial longitude of exactly ninety degrees, marking the precise mid-point of summer.
Today, Xiazhi usually passes relatively quietly, however as an ancient Chinese celebration, records of festivities date back as far as the Han period. One ancient symbol of the Four Auspicious Beasts, The Vermillion Bird, resembling a majestic pheasant, deep red in colour, is often connected with Xiazhi. The bird calls forth associations of the south, bringing heat and fire with an array of vermillion-coloured feathers also said to symbolise happiness, joy and good fortune. All auspicious attributes which we hope to bring to you in the form of our new Summer Collection for 2025.
For summer, we shift focus to stone and organic material snuff bottles. The long history of carving in China has for centuries produced many exquisite examples of art. Symbolic figures, animals, objects and landscapes delicately rendered in materials as diverse as coconut shell, amber, wood, quartzite and jadeite - each carved to reveal captivating imagery. This season, as a fascinating counterpoint to relief carved bottles, we are delighted to also include deceptively simple and highly polished ‘ink play’ agates. These pieces invite us to project our own interpretation of abstract imagery upon the surface of the bottle itself.