A Fable about a Table

A little of what you fancy.......

does you good.

I hope you will find this blog has a little of what you fancy.
Maybe you'll even eat a fondant fancy while reading it!

Hi and welcome to the story as it unfolds.

A fable that was started in China by a piece of calligraphy art

and is developing into a book and a business......

The Fable of the Table

Let me start by explaining the story of how this beautiful piece of calligraphy came to be hanging on our entrance wall in Beijing.

In April 2002 I went to see an exhibition of the Art of Calligraphy in Modern China at the British Museum in London. 

(I was living in Copenhagen at the time and moving to China in the summer of 2002)

The exhibition just captivated me 
and I wrote down the names of some of my favourite artists.

Probably 6 months after I moved to Beijing I had reason to go to Liulichang, the artists street in Beijing, and was able to meet Sa Benjie, one of the calligraphers who had exhibited in the UK.

 From this initial meeting we were invited to Sa Benjie's studio, 
fell in love with his work and the stories behind them, 
culminating in the purchase of the piece entitled 'A Fable about a Table.'

In 1994, Sa Benjie had become fascinated by the idea 
that individual items of furniture 
could develop a personality of their own, 
'and that this could be used as a metaphor 
for the thoughts and actions of human beings.'

Our painting tells the story of how a beautiful Ming scroll table 
was rescued in the 1950's by Wang Shixiang, 
a great authority and collector of Chinese furniture. 
During this era, the communist idealists sort to destroy all vestiges of the wealthy classes.
The calligraphy tells this story and how the table came to be donated to the Shanghai Museum in the 1990's.

 detail from 'A Fable about a Table'

Makes me take a second look at some of the furniture in our home... 


If you would like to read more about modern calligraphy 
I recommend "The Art of Calligraphy in Modern China" by Gordon Barrass