EVENT DESCRIPTION
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Sun Museum proudly presents its anniversary special “Sun Delight” – “Colours of the Universe: Jade and Colour Stone Carvings from the Little Moon Pavilion and Songde Tang Collections”. The exhibition will run until July 6, 2025, showcasing 120 rare colour stone and jade carvings from the Song dynasty to the early to mid-20th century, from the Little Moon Pavilion and Songde Tang collections.
“Colours of the Universe” showcases jade and colour stone carvings from different periods, including the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties, and the early to mid-20th century. Materials of the artefacts are diverse and rare, including white jade, agate, amber, amethyst, tea quartz, aventurine glass, coral, hair crystal, jadeite, lapis lazuli, malachite, rock crystal, rose quartz, soapstone, spinach jade and turquoise. There are small jade and stone pendants that can be held in hand as well as decorative art objects. Additionally, some exhibits come along with their original wood stands, which are exquisite art pieces in their own right.
The art of Chinese colour stone carvings can be traced back to ancient times, with its earliest roots seen in the Han and Tang dynasties. It reached its pinnacle during the Qing dynasty. The oldest jade carving in the exhibition is a flower-form five petals agate cup from the Northern Song dynasty. It has an orange-red colour with dark red circular patterns in some areas. Its vibrant color and varied stone patterns are distinctly different from the Qing examples, which tend to have lighter colours and simpler natural motifs. Another exhibit, a turquoise figure of a boy holding a sheng, dates back to the Jin dynasty and features a Central Asian nomadic child with the unique hairstyle known called “wooden comb back”, showcasing the marks of cultural exchange.
Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty had a keen interest in arts and culture. He recruited skilled craftsmen from all over China to create jade and stone carvings. One of the impressive pieces from the Qianlong period is the Imperial White Jade Cup, which is carved in a simple classic form with four open windows on scroll ground. The scroll pattern is likely inspired by the Warring State bronze vessel’s decoration. A branch of Hibiscus and Osmanthus blossoms was intricately carved inside the windows together with two corresponding imperial poems. It is very rare to find Qing dynasty jade carvings integrating painting, calligraphy and poem all in one piece. Ancient Chinese artefacts are usually characterized with visual forms that express auspicious meanings. A carved agate jujubes and peanuts pendant symbolises “zao(jujube) sheng gui zi” (zi is a pun of seed, and peanuts are seeds), meaning “May you soon give birth to a distinguished son”. This reflects the ingenuity of traditional Chinese craftsmanship.
Sun Museum is concurrently launching “Sun Refresh”, inviting local veteran artist Mr. John Wong to create several new works with vibrant and fresh insights, in response to the profound history of those brilliant ancient artefacts in “Colours of the Universe”.
In addition, Sun Museum will host activities such as the “Sun Artroom”, “Sun Classroom” and “Sun Playroom”. These events will promote interaction between the community and artists through painting demonstrations, talks, and workshops.
