Oollas Fine Italian Rain Boots

March 1st 8 PM

at

Distant Lands

109 1st Ave. S.

in Pioneer Square

Italian design and craftsmanship for a classic American look and lifestyle.  For comfort, style and functionality in the city and in the country, Oollas rain boots are footwear for all seasons.

Wood container with lid with interesting ears protruding on four sides.  The body of the container is composed of many vertical segments.  They are bound together by two wires (one is missing).  Remnants of the original lacquer remain.  This container could possibly be used for grain.  The four handles seem like a lot for a grain container.  As a decorative element it has a very warm tone to the wood.  The shape is pleasing with the gentle slope to the body and the interesting lobed ears.  The ears seem more decorative than utilitarian.

“Chinese boxes and baskets are derived from a multitude of very practical applications. They were used for tea, opium, pillows, gift giving, food containers, artist and scholars’ supplies, bathing and an array of other household chores. Most are ingeniously engineered using a minimum of raw material resources and many are highly decorative as well a utilitarian”.1

1. http://asianantiques-art.com/boxes-baskets/

Necklace from Mali.

This wood carver is using the old school tools.  Nowadays you can find small shops near this fellow that are empty except for a couple of tables with computerized systems that carve the wood designs.  A technician sits in the back to load the wood onto the tables.  Not quite as charming as seeing a real person.
There is a sort of market outside of Beijing where I have been going for about ten years now to buy chinese antique furniture. Right outside this market is where I took this video.  It is kind of fun to take a taxi to this area because it is a bit outside of the city. And then you get on a side road, then you take a small road and then by the time you get to the really small road the taxi driver has this really confused look on his face. Like how does this white guy that can’t speak a word of Chinese know where we are out here in the boonies.
The market is fairly big, my guess would be a couple of hundred dealers. I get surprised in some way every time I go there. The last time I was there there was a dealer with some decorative stones that were about 25 feet high. They just took part of a mountain and put it in front of their shop.
Of course in China they have been carving up mountains for a while. In Han dynasty China it became very fashionable to give your parents these overwhelming funerals. These were really extravagant affairs that would sometimes even bankrupt the rest of the family. When families had no limit on what they would spend on funerals and burial monuments, the stone carving business boomed.

We are having a PARTY.

On the 2nd of February, first Thursday, please join us for a

                                                  Year of the Water Dragon

                  Chinese New Year Party

                                                        Music, Art, Tea, Film

Please come and celebrate with us. We would love to see you.  We have received a number of new items, some from the warehouse, some from consignors:

                                             The party will kick off our

                                                                    Winter Sale.

                          Upto 40% off.

Come meet the people that have been inspiring Distant Lands recently:

Melin Turisno has been volunteering at the store for almost a year now. An interior decorator, she has been helping to reorganize the store which has resulted in a completely new look at Distant Lands. There is a better flow to the store and it feels much more alive.

James Grindle is our resident tea master.  James began seriously tasting and brewing Tea over 14 years ago under the tutelage of Wayne Powers at Tea Rex Tea House in Charlotte N.C.  He worked as consultant in the creation of CommuniTEA in Long Island City, N.Y. (which became a tourist attraction for its proximity to PS1 & being the location of the coffee house in the “Gossip Girl”). James co-owns Knightriders Recordings and is a bit of a social media whiz.  He has promised a viewing of his new music video  and a tasting of five new tea’s fresh from China as well as his legendary monster chai.

Gena Azar has helped us by doing some great photography that we have been posting to our Facebook page. Have you seen the Facebook page?http://www.facebook.com/distantlandsimporters

Some of her photography is also on our website: www.distantlandsimporters.com

Antique Chinese Pharmacy from Shanxi Province 150 years old red lacquer.  Thirty small drawers each have two dividers creating three spaces in each drawer.  The drawer fronts have circular pulls with chinese coin escutcheons.  Chinese characters on each drawer name the different medicines.  At the bottom are two larger drawers.  Red lacquer has mellowed to a slightly reddish orange.  Stands 46″ high.

Antique Chinese Bench from Shanxi Province 150 years old.  Has extensive carving of interlaced dragons and foilage on both sides.  Lacquer is worn enough to see the joinery of leg and apron.  One side is more worn than the other which you can see from the pictures.