Isn't She Lovely?

Isn't she lovely?

She was a gift from a dear friend.

I've mentioned Vivian before.

We worked together at the museum before Vivian went off to China --

this last time as a Fulbright Scholar.

I was fortunate to have lunch with Vivian and her husband during the holidays.

Vivian is off to D.C. for a few months -- all part of a fellowship. 

Smart gal. 

She is a YiXing teapot.

The YiXing teapot came into favor in China around 1500.

The small teapot, made of unglazed red or brown stoneware,

is well suited to bring out the flavor, color and aroma of the leaves

and it's size makes it easy to balance the ratio of water to tea.

It should be kept for one type of tea only.

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she wonderful?

Isn't she precious?

Yes! 

I'm joining some tea parties today:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Wishing you well much joy and a lovely cup of tea!

Yungang Grottoes

I have a very special Postcard Friendship Friday to share with you.

My dear friend, Vivian, is a Fulbright Scholar studying in China this year completing her PhD.

I first met Vivian at the Museum of Fine Arts where we both worked on updating and

reinstalling the Asian Galleries.

We also spent a good deal of time temple hopping in Houston.

With a large Asian population, the city has many beautiful Buddhist and Hindu temples.

When Vivian left for China she asked what I wanted (besides tea) and I said

POSTCARDS!

Vivan was able to vist the amazing Yungang Grottoes in Datong city in the Shanxi Province.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage site with 252 caves and 51,000 statues that

represent the outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China in the 5th and 6th centuries.

For a student of Art History, Buddhism and Archaeology -- what a wondrous place!

Vivian sent these to me in early December and they are just arriving.

Talk about the slow boat FROM China!

The Buddhist tradition of religious cave art achieved its first major impact at Yungang, 

where it developed its own distinct character and artistic power. The Yungang cave art represents the successful fusion of Buddhist religious symbolic art from south and central Asia with Chinese cultural traditions, starting in the 5th century AD under imperial auspices. At the same time it vividly illustrates the power and endurance of Buddhist belief in China. As Buddhism spread over Asia, it was able

to successfully assimilate with the local traditions and Yungang is a good example.

You can read more about the Yungang Grottoes here.

You can find many photographs of the grottoes by "googling".

Thank you to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

I'm also joining Mosaic Monday.

Wishing you well and much joy!

It's Postcard Day!

I wanted to share a couple of postcards with you before my day gets swamped!

I love this postcard from Shanghai of the old mailboxes on Yuyuan Lane.

My good friend is in China studying on a Fulbright and she sends me a postcard every now and then.

The photograph is by Yin Ying.

 

The stamps are lovely.

 

One more postcard to celebrate Halloween.

This is a reproduction of a vintage Halloween postcard

from the Halloween Postcard Book published by Darling & Company, Seattle.

There is no artist or publisher listed on the back of the postcard, 

but on the bottom of the card it reads

Painting Copyright by -- and then I can't make out the rest --

1908.

Thank you to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday each week.

Wishing you well and a fun filled weekend!