Hopi Pottery

Today another great card came in my inbox as a result of October 50 RR. It shows a set of Hopi pottery: wedding vase and a butterfly bowl (white ones) and stunning red polychrome vases. On the left, a Hopi Wedding Belt and a Sash belt (worn by Kachinas in various dances and ceremonies) frame these beautiful artworks.
The forever stamps are from a series just released (26 sept), called Celebrity Chefs. The card got 3 of them: Felipe Rojas-Lombardi, Joyce Chen and James Beard. You can read more about them and their contribution to cuisine here.

Thank YOU, Meredith !

Country: United States

Description: Hopi pottery

Photo: Paul Markow

Publisher: Smith-Southwestern

elegant blue & white

Since China invented the porcelain there was always a fascination towards those fine & elegant products. Traditional blue and white porcelain is regarded as one of the most unique forms of Chinese ceramics, highly collectible and often used for decoration. This kind of porcelain came to represent the mainstream of Chinese porcelain during the Ming and Qing dynasties when porcelain was produced. Different quality products were made: exquisite works for imperial court and simple ware for common people’s daily use.

Some details of technological  process... Firstly patterns with cobalt blue pigments are applied to a plain ceramic body, upon which a clear layer of glaze is added. At the end the item is put in an oven at high temperatures. The card showing a decorated dish is the light version of a MaxiCard since identical stamps were issued in September 2014. And the the postal stamp used to mail this one is the same with the one mentioned in an earlier post of this blog.

Thank YOU, Wenwah !

Country: China / Hong Kong
Description: Dish decorated with floral design in underglaze blue, Qing dynasty