The art of root

North of the BaBaoShan subway station lies an antiques and craftworks market where you can buy paintings and calligraphy works, porcelains, and wooden articles. Shop 1007 offers an unusual sight of root carving works. These decorations will compliment your distinctive aesthetic standard.

Root carving, also called the ‘art of root’, combines the natural beauty of tree root and the creative power of the artist.

Stepping inside this universe of oddly shaped root sculptures, I wondered who could possess such insight as to select these miraculous roots. The shop keeper greeted me and invited me to have a cup of tea, sitting down at a unique wooden table.

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Ma has collected a great number of root sculptures. As wanted to share his treasures with more people, he opened this shop in 1996.

He was especially proud of one of his works. It was called ‘Shen Long’, or ‘Devine Dragon’ in English. The dark-colored wooden dragon looked so vivid that the head, the beard, and the curling body could be seen clearly. I could not but marvel at both the natural magic, and the human craftsmanship.

Looking around, I couldn’t help asking how Mr. Ma could collect so many incredible root sculptures. He smiled and noted, “You can find out beauty everywhere as long as you observe carefully.”

Mr. Ma will help you ship the one you selected.

What I appreciated:

Rare root sculptures

What customers appreciate:

Rare root sculptures