Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-09-30
SEEING The FAIR
IN DETAIL

Inches High Worth From $500 to
5000 - Jade Snuff Bottles Carved /
From the Solid crystsl-keen Appre- |
citation For Old Brie-abrse-TsmPls |
oonss Of Hammered Brass - Silver
Treasures In Countless Shapes-Ab-
senee Of Scientific knowledge In Chi.
ma Proper-Primitive Mills and Other
Things That Make Much Work With
Small Result.
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE BY
MARK BENNlTr.l
A pearl of great price sits queenly
on n velvet throne in one OF the show
cases in this Chinese empire Of the
Liberal Arts palace. Just 10 look at
il. which all may do, seems great
honor, and to touch il is like feeling
of ten years salary in advance. This
pearl is almost as big as the bullying
eyes that gaze at il, and il shines on
and on with iridescent softness ana
luSter that gladdens the heart. II Is
the Joy that thing of beauty forever
is. according to the late Mr.. Keats.
The fabby workman who made ii in
his little two sided shop beneath the
oceans food and mud must have toiled
long and arduously, for nacre is no
cheap product when one has TO extract
it from his drinking water and lay II
on, an invisible thinness at time, like
a Chinese artisan makes q lacquered
tray with dozen furnishings No
placard tells the value of this treasure
as measured by those who fashion
pearls. Ten thousand dollars is the
Chinese price expressed in American
figures, and the weight is thirty carats.
1t was found near the Pescadores Is
lands. which belong TO France and
which lie in the Formosan strait oppo-
site the province of Fukien.
JaGe is a favorite material with the
Chinese carvers and lapidaries. The
rich green jade is by far the hand
soonest and most costly. a little carved
screen the size of an old fashioned
pane of glass ! by 8 inches is priced
at $1,000. But this is unusual for jade.
A white screen about the same size Is
$500.
Snuff is Chinese indulgence, much
as it used to be in America when our
grandsires wore silver shoe buckles
and bicycle pants. The Chinese snuff
taker performs a sort of sleight OF
hand feat when he takes the bit Of
sneeze powder. The snuff is kept In
bottles, tightly corked. When snuff
time comes the cork is removed and
bit of the powder is taken on tiny
arrow shaped spatula attached to the
cork and laid on the second joint of
the left thumb. This part Of the hand
is then run along beneath the nostrils
while the thrush of air sweeps the
powder clean. The operation is very
clearly. deity and delicately done,
quite an improvement on the wasteful
way of delivering it to the nostrils in
pinches.
| mentioned snuff because | wanted
to mention the jade snuff bottles. These
bottles are fashioned from the solid
Jade crystal and are as shapely as
blown bottles. But they are worth $40
to $50 apiece Cut glass is plebeian be-
side carved jade.
Old China is very fond Of old china
The bric-a-brac collector of the orient
has as keen sense Of the beautiful
and as fine sentiment about the old
things associated with the remote past
as anybody who haunts the faience
and antiquary shops of an American
city. Here is an old bit of crockery
made in the time of Emperor Sung
Chiu a thousand years ago. The price
is 20 cents for each year Of its age
Here are a sparkling white jade bow
for 500 and incense bowls and jars tC
sweeten the homes and lives of many
a family. The oldest vase here was
made during the Ming dynasty, abou
300 years ago, and 1t is valued al
$4,000
Instead of ringing a church bell il
China the sexton of the temple thump.
a resonant drum made Of hammered
brass. Some of the temple drums tina
bear the marks Of violent exercise TO
many generations are here to be looked
at and thought about by Christian ant
pagan alike. Few sounds are sweete
than the vesper bells, with all thu
comforting thoughts that vesper bell
should bring, and if the temple drums
resound in after years in the hearts O
40 bn nil
bells in the hearts of those who dwell
in their youth within their sound thei
mission is worthy one.
The Chinese are wonder workers II
silver. What can be prettier or NOR
daintily done than the entrance to tn,
emperor's palace as it is here in silver
Here, too, are the emperor's throne,
Chinese war junk and flower boa
all in silver, delicately wrought ant
skillfully engraved.
AS an example of patience and skill
l shall point out to you an ivory bal
carved from a large elephants tusk
containing twenty-seyen other balls
one ball within another, all beautiful.
carved and latticed in an intelligent.
designed pattern. This is the work o
Cantonese who gave two years o
his life to the task. The value Sc
upon it is $500, and that is far from
making it Chinese highball.
The Chinese make certain compost
ton that looks like fine grade of dec
red terra Gotta. 1t carves like ivor.
and possesses richness that places
high in the esteem of art connoisseur:
A wonderful carving of this sort is
box in the shape of heart. valued a
500. A cigar case on wheels Of tn
same material, richly carved, is 5000.