We are faced (we means you and I folks)…we are faced with a dual
dilemma. The first is this: If it’s not jewelry and you write pretty
much exclusively about jewelry. how do you justify the article that
is about to come into existence? The answer is simple. Take a bit of
wire. make it into a loop. solder it onto your item of interest. and
presto gasatz. you’ve got a pendant. and that’s jewelry.
Dilemma number two is not so simple as it requires enormous team
effort. This means getting everyone to pull in the same direction.
Not so difficult. They do that in congress every day. no? Here’s the
thing of it. I have this beastie. Stunning. Drop dead gorgeous. Not
to be concerned over the mere fact that it’s sticking it’s tongue out
at you in apparent contempt. Curling tongues are typical of the art
produced in the southern kingdom of Chu in China. It’s a mythical
creature. It has no identity.
If it were to look in the mirror it would have not a clue as to what
it was. How could it? We have not yet classified it. Creatures like
this live in a limbo of non-existence till we give it an order, a
family, a genus, and a species. Till then it’s a nothing. A zip. A
zero.
So the way I see it. the least we can do is give it a name. That’s
where you come it. Let me tell you a bit about it. I’m putting a loop
on top so that in a day or so it will be a pendant and therefore
jewelry.
It was cast in bronze using the lost wax technique. It dates back
from the 13th to the 11th century BC. It emanates from a culture that
developed original features independent from the influence of
neighboring cultures.
This charming little chap clearly emanates from a highly developed
society about which we know little for they had no written references
relating to their existence. But we have our little beastie do we
not? And if he seems a little truculent in attitude, what with his
tongue sticking out and his wide stance depicting a somewhat
pugnacious nature … well. you would be the same if you had no name.
So let’s go folks. Give this critter a name. Tell me what it is if
you want. Or not. I want to set its spirits free.
So now go. Look. Admire. And if you like. faint with pleasure while
being struck with awe at such beauty.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits. may I
direct you to my home page at http://www.tyler-adam.com where you
will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that
says Current Tidbits. click it. and you will see represented on our
pages an image of a mythical bronze creature of days of yore.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark
name : GyoRu or RuGyo even though it is perhaps turquoise or
malachite and turquoise and dates from 5th cent. B. C.E. and was a
piece from the 3 part exhibit of artefacts from the birth of [a]
civilization (according to the Japanese National Archaeology Dept.),
being a goldsmith and attempting to keep in line with the character
of the place and thing, the name’ Gyo Ru’ translates to (roughly)
pile of gold and as I can tell no “cutesie” name is befitting the
object. So, looking to its origins, and the image embodying
"ancient", and “dynastic” and mineralogical and artistry in craft, I
can think of no better related name that accounts for a goldsmith
naming such a piece, and even if not technically made entirely of,
or even in part, gold- it is a treasure nonetheless-the proverbial
"Gyo Ru" representing the" cultur ancienne" of one of Japan’s royal
houses, and still, guarding against any loss of memory of the
civilization from which it was born. a first bastion if you will, of
a guardian of a proud, bygone civilization. there’s my two cents.
rer
Dear Mark, I look forward to your tidbits, thank you so much for
sharing. I think in reality it is a bank, there is a coin slot, the
tail could move the upper creature down to where the coin would fall
into the body. I would guess that it was made during the time that
those banks were made, around the late 1800’s. What would I call
it…we used to have a name for the ugly pups of our
litters…OOgolly. would work here. Blessings, pat
Question. do my eyes deceive me, or does fey beastie have another
beastie, also with tongue protruding, astride its back? Is the
mounted beastie’s position adjustable along a slot that runs the
length of the soon-to-named larger beastie’s back? Are two names in
order rather than one? Surely the smaller but possibly dominant
beastie will object if it’s mount receives a name and it remains
nameless. If that isn’t another creature, what the heck is that
apparatus hovering above and attached to the nameless one? Melissa
The archaeologist and conservator in me is screaming DON’T PUT A
LOOP ON IT!!! You will destroy it’s value, unless of course it is a
metaphorical loop in which case it has already been done.