Chapter 168 167. Ivory Carving
Although they complained that the things in Minwenhua Street were too expensive, Lei Li and his group still had a good time shopping.
As the saying goes, if you are here now and don't buy anything, it's better to look at some new things to broaden your horizons. If you go home without seeing anything, wouldn't it be a waste of your travel expenses?
Especially Liu Xiaocao is a person who can't hold back her words. When she returns to the village and meets people, she will tell them about the liveliness and novelty of the provincial capital. Only after seeing it will she have something to say.
"But this so-called Mr. Xu's calligraphy and painting is just words to me, no different from what my son Tao wrote. Are all rich people fools?"
Liu Xiaocao muttered softly.
He didn't dare say it loudly in case others heard it. He had heard the young man in the indigo brocade robe praising Mr. Xu's calligraphy and paintings. It would be bad if he angered others and brought them trouble.
There are children and elderly people in their group.
"I don't see why it's so expensive."
Lei Li continued in a breathy voice.
In his opinion, the handwriting of her husband Zhou Yi is the best, with graceful and flowing strokes, not much worse than that of Mr. Xu.
Every year at the end of the year, when it was time to change the Spring Festival couplets, the villagers would ask Zhou Yi to help them write them. As they were from the same village, he only charged a few cents for the red paper and ink for a pair of couplets.
No matter how greedy he was, he would never dare to ask for a hundred taels of silver for a pair of these. But this one belonged to such a wealthy family that there were still people vying to sell it for a hundred taels of silver. It was really a case of him opening his eyes to the pain of a knife cutting his butt.
The group entered the calligraphy and painting shop but could not make out anything of the value and dared not touch anything. They walked around and listened to people's appreciation of the works, and finally left with only a vague understanding.
Let’s go to other stores.
"What's this?"
Lei Li saw a hollow carved exquisite ball with intricate carvings of flowers and flying birds. There was not a single blank space. He was surprised and liked it and was reluctant to miss it.
"It's lustrous and completely white, but it doesn't look like jade. It doesn't have the translucency of jade, but is rather flexible. The carving is especially impressive; it's no exaggeration to say it's the work of a genius."
"That's a ghost ball."
Zhou Yi examined it carefully and confirmed, "Handicrafts carved from elephant ivory are very expensive, but the craftsmanship is so exquisite that this ivory ball is also called a ghost-work ball, which means that it is an art that can only be carved with the power of ghosts and gods."
It's quite amazing to say.
This bone carving technique is one of the Lingnan intangible cultural heritages in modern China. Many things in Xiling are very similar to those in Lingnan. Lingnan is famous for its bone carvings, and Xiling also has bone carvings. The geographical location is also similar, except that there are more and larger rivers.
"It's actually teeth?"
Lei Li and the others were shocked when they heard this. "How could there be such a big tooth? This exquisite ball is as big as my palm. How big must an elephant be..."
"Elephant..."
Zhou Yi gestured briefly, "An adult male elephant is 5 to 7 meters long, about 24-31 meters tall at the shoulder, and its tail alone is 12 to 15 meters long. It weighs as much as dozens of pigs. Female elephants are slightly smaller than male elephants."
"Their tusks can grow to over 1.5 meters. If they were standing upright, they would be about the same height as Willow Grass. They would probably be about the same size as you."
Liu Xiaocao's height is on par with most guys, just over 1.7 meters, while Lei Li is very tall, 1.85 meters tall, which is rare among men.
“So long?!”
Everyone was stunned.
While marveling at the elephant's height, might and length of its tusks, I also admired Zhou Yi's extensive knowledge, as he knew about this huge creature and could even recognize ivory carvings.
The owner of the ivory shop had just sent a customer out when he saw this group of people at their door. There were quite a few tall men among them. He suspected that they wanted to rob him, so he stood nearby and listened.
I didn't expect that he was such a connoisseur that he even knew the origin of this ivory carving!
"This little brother is right."
The ivory carving shopkeeper bowed to them and said with a smile, "The elephant this ivory came from was a huge animal. It took dozens of people to subdue it and remove the tusk. Then the craftsmen spent years meticulously carving it into such a presentable piece."
To say that it is presentable is really too modest. Even if someone who does not know the value of ivory sees it and does not recognize the preciousness of ivory, he will know that this superb craftsmanship is a treasure of a thousand gold.
However, in this ivory carving shop, this little craftsman's ball is not the most expensive one.
"If you don't mind, how about coming into the store and taking a look?"
The ivory carving shopkeeper leaned sideways as if to invite someone in.
He saw that although Zhou Yi's clothes were rather simple and he didn't even have a jade pendant or a sachet on his body, and he didn't look like someone from a wealthy family, his eyes were bright and he had an awe-inspiring righteousness that was not something an ordinary citizen could possess.
"this……"
Sister Huaer and the other children naturally wanted to see something new and looked at their father with shining eyes. However, they knew that this ivory carving was not an ordinary object, so even the most noisy Sister Huaer just waited obediently for the adults' answer.
Liu Xiaocao and Zhu Zhuer looked at each other, feeling a little hesitant. It was nice to try something new, but they were afraid that they might accidentally break something when they went in, and they wouldn't be able to afford the compensation even if they had to pawn their pants.
"Let's not go in and take a look."
Grandma spoke first, smiling, "Old people can't see clearly, so they can't recognize such exquisite things. Even children don't know what they are."
Then he took Little Jiang from Lei Li's arms and said, "Brother Li, you and Zhou Yi should go and take a look. The children must be hungry after walking around for so long. Grandma will take them to the nearby restaurant to eat something. You can take your time and walk around."
Although this Folk Culture Street has many handicrafts such as writing brushes, inkstones, and paper, it is not without food. For example, there is a noodle shop not far from this ivory carving shop.
"Okay then."
Lei Li nodded. He really wanted to take a closer look at the ivory sculpture, but it was inconvenient to hold Little Ginger in his arms.
So they split up into two groups. Lei Li and Zhou Yi stayed in the ivory carving shop to look around, while the grandmother and the others went to the noodle shop to eat and rest.
In addition to the ghost ball, the ivory carving shop also has various ivory carvings.
Lifelike animals include roosters crowing, tigers roaring in the forest, and fish leaping in the lotus pond. Flowers include plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, peach, pine, and cypress. The overall shape of the support also includes flower baskets, vases, rockery, bamboo tubes, etc.
The characters include ladies and the Three Officials, the jewelry includes beads and hairpins, and there are also natural scenery. Among them, rugged rocks, mottled sea rocks, and rolling and changing clouds are the images that ivory carving artists particularly like to use their knives to depict.
Lei Li was dazzled.
The ivory carving shop owner was nearby, introducing his work. His tone was humble yet proud. "The ghost-work ball next to the shop door only has three layers. There's another nine-layered one inside the shop. The first layer has a relief carving of a dragon and a phoenix. The eight layers inside it also have carvings, and each layer can rotate."
"And the ivory fan."
The ivory carving shopkeeper slowly unfolded the ivory fan. "Each of these fan bones is carved from ivory. When fully unfolded, it looks like a picture of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea. There are also carvings of clouds and cranes on the edge of the fan."
"It's indeed exquisite..."
Lei Liwei leaned over to observe it carefully. This ivory fan was more delicate than ordinary wooden fans. The jade was lustrous and delicate, the fan was thin, and it looked light.
The Eight Immortals above have different shapes and movements, but they are all lifelike, and even their facial features are carved out. They are so delicate that people dare not touch them, for fear that if one part breaks, the whole fan will be ruined.
"I think this figure sculpture is also good."
Zhou Yi looked at the ivory carvings of figures such as ladies and fairies, and said, "The carvers fully utilized the fine and tough texture of ivory to accurately express the figures' movements and emotions. The three officials are either majestic or friendly, and the ladies' emotions are clearly visible. Even the whiskers of the cat in the lady's arms are carved out."
"The proportions are harmonious, the composition is beautiful, the characters are vivid, the expressions are realistic, and the carving is rigorous and exquisite."
As he spoke, he noticed that the lady's dress and hairpins were actually colored, and added, "This part has been colored, forming a sharp contrast with the natural color of the ivory, making the work more vivid and colorful."
"Yes, yes, little brother, you have a really good eye! You even know how to add color!"
The ivory carving shop owner gave a thumbs-up and praised it highly. "This figure carving is still not very colorful. Two years ago, I had a golden beetle and cabbage sculpture. The leaves and ladybugs were all colored, which was very vivid."
"It was originally one of the most valuable treasures in my shop, but it was later bought and taken to Kyoto. I heard it was intended to be presented to a certain queen or prince."
"This is truly extraordinary. It can be presented to the palace for the Queen and the Prince. It must be a rare treasure in heaven and on earth."
Lei Lihao praised the ivory carving shop owner so much that he was very happy and kept waving his hands and saying "no, no".
"I can also make custom sculptures of this figure. If you like them, I'll give you a 10% discount!"
Even a 10% discount is expensive.
It's true that Lei Li likes this ivory carving, but he won't buy such a luxury item that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars. If he gets addicted, he will lose everything.
However, he would not refuse directly. He bowed and smiled and said, "Thank you very much for your kindness, shopkeeper. However, our family has just arrived from another place and we don't have much money with us. We can only talk about it next time."
"Well, next time I come back I'll definitely leave you a piece of good Sun Heart stuff!"
"Thank you, shopkeeper!"
Lei Li's face was full of joy. After the shopkeeper went to attract customers, he leaned over to Zhou Yi's ear and asked him, "What does Sun Heart mean?"
"When you cut ivory horizontally, you can see the heart. Sun heart is the best kind of ivory, followed by sesame heart and groove heart. Groove heart is the lowest quality and the least abundant."
Zhou Yi also whispered back to him.
The two of them planned to look around for a while before leaving, but at this time the customer who had been warmly welcomed by the shopkeeper also came into the store.
She was the maidservant of the young lady in the prefectural government's mansion. When she saw Lei Li's eyes light up, she observed him quietly while talking to the shopkeeper. Seeing that he had a good appreciation of the ivory carving, she nodded secretly.
"Okay, I'll get it for you right away."
The ivory carving shop owner took the waiter up to the second floor and came down after a while. The waiter was holding a large box carefully in his arms.
"This is a custom-made ivory carving for your residence. Please open it and take a look. If there is no problem, I will send someone to deliver it to your residence."
"Need not."
The head maid opened the box and carefully examined the fine quality of the ivory carvings. She nodded slightly with satisfaction and waved her hand. The servant came up and took the box from the shop assistant.
"This is the final payment."
The head maid paid the balance, glanced at Lei Li on the other side, and then left.
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