The Indianapolis journal., 1893-07-09

Even Nut Shells and Fruit Stones Are Pnt
Good Use.

Even Nut Shells and Fruit Stones Are Pot
To Good Use.
Journal Of the Society OF Arts
Nothing is w asted In China. The stones
OF various iraits and the shells OF nuts are
cleaned. dried and carved into ornaments
of the most graceful kind. Among the
stones used are the olive. plum. peach and
cherry, and of the shells the walnut aud
cocoanut. The stones are collected with
care; each must exceed a certain standard
OF size. proportion, hardness and weight.
They are dried slowly and nt such a heat AS
not TO crack or eDrOut, and are then ready
for the carver. The designer then makes a
rough outline of the future grouD or
picture and hands It over To his boys or
apprentices. These work with great rapid
ity and soon block out the design, cutting
through the hard lIgneous tissue and then
extract the kernel A second treatment
now takes place to dry the interior OF the
shell. as woll as TO prevent the hne Inning
of the interior from undergoing decomposl
tion. This completed. the designer
sketches o second outline. and Also Indi.
Gates by his pencil or brush w here the sur
face Is TO be manipulated, made into leaf
wor or arabosque, or be cut altogether
away. The work Is performed by the su Oor-
dInates. as at tirst. The designer then does
the fnishing touches. after W hich the assist
ants clean. polish and oil or wax the per
fected carving. The stones are sold in this
shape to quito q large extent bat more
largely In other forms. Among these may
be mentioned buttons. watch-charms.
sleeve-llnks. earrings and brooches. and.
when strung together. bracelets, aDkIets.
necklaces, watchchains. rosaries and OIL
cial ornaments The price of u stone varies
greatly with the workmanship and the
fame of the carver. Some may be bought
as low as ID. a piece; others command "a
high as Ss. and 12s. each. The average
price is Is. Sd. q stone. with q handsome
discount for purchases in quantity.
The carvings display great variety and
beauty. One class represents bunches of
flowers and leaves. In which pistiIs. sta
mems and tendrils ore accurately executed.
Similar to these are fruits and flowers and
leaves. A second class 10 com posed o carv-
ings of birds, reptiles and higher animals.
The dragon, griffin, stork, horse. lion, tiger.
camel, elephant and bull are the favOrite
figures. A canon In Chinese carving is to
reproduce only those animals which have
been deitied, and those mentioned arc
about the only ones which have enjoyed
divine honors. A third class. and by
far the most interesting. comprises
groups of human figures. representing 4
scenes In history, poetry, mythology and
the drama The W orkmanship 10 often 80
fne as to be microscopic in It's delicacy. In
fact the finishing touches are made by the
artist while using magnify ing glass OF at
leaft fifty dianeters. On stones not over
an inch in length along their major axis it
is not uncommon TO find eight nine and ten
characters IN different attitudes and CO.'S
tunes. Unlike most phases of Chinese
art. there 10 much regard paid TO perspect-
i've 8nd f0reshOrtoDing. Some of these
pisces might have been made by HiDdoo or
Italian artists. so tree are they from local
cow tionalism. Nevertheless, in the
main. conventIonalism 10 ai-prev silIng.