Silver Cha Cup

2 min read

“Cha” refers to flfl oating wood raft in the river, which was in common use with “Cha (twig)” in ancient China. “Cha” refers to protruding twig. Cha Cup is twig-shaped wine cup, which was popular in the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Silver Cha Cup was made by Zhu Bishan, which was one of the representative craftworks at that time. Silver Cha Cup features bizarre shape of cup body like a curled dragon turning its head. A old man reading book sits on it, who is a secluded person. Cha and fifi gure are wholly cast. The head, hand and shoes of the fifi gure are welded after separate casting, but they leave no traces. This artwork shows Greatness in Trivialness, and gives the room for unlimited imagination.

Old man

Old man features combed hair, Taoist crown, long beard, clear facial features and dignified style. He turns the head leftwards, puts left hand on the raft, leans the right leg, and inclines the body backwards. He is dim-sighted due to old age, but he still carefully reads a book. He looks comfortable and secluded.

Emergence of Appreciative Sculptures

Small appreciative sculptures bloomed in the Song Dynasty, which became the vital category in sculpture art in the Ming Dynasty. They were popular at that time. They were children’s toys and scholars’ furnishings in the study rooms. Material, style and form were diversififi ed.

Silver Cha and Star Cha

It is said that a twig-shaped raft flfl oated in the sea in every August in ancient times. The raft was empty, but it never delayed. One year, a man took the food and jumped onto the raft to float to the remote sea. Several days later, he entered into the Milky Way and met with Weaving Girl. Later on, this raft between the secular world and the sky was called as “Star Cha”. In the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen made twig-shaped silver cup based on this legend. Scholars put the cup on the desk, who can appreciate at any time. This cup is also drinking vessel and makes people fall into a reverie.

Zhu Bishan

Zhu Bishan was a craftsman in the Ming Dynasty, who was a native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang. He was famous for silverwork production, in particular Silver Cha Cup. He enjoyed super skills, and made many wonderful works. Many scholars wrote poems to praise his works. There are four Silver Cha Cups up to now.