Fruit Pit Carving: An Incredible Miniature Food Art

Fruit Pit Carving: An Incredible Miniature Food Art

For ordinary people, fruit pits are always discarded as trash. However, in the eyes of great masters of miniature carving, they can be a piece of exquisite artwork. The craft we talk about is fruit pit carving.

Fruit pit carving is a Chinese folk handicraft in which the pits of peach, apricot, olive, Myrica rubra kernels, walnuts, and others are used to create minute patterns of the Buddha, nature, or the Chinese zodiac that are said to repel evil spirits. The carved pits are also used to create jewelry and decorations.

The history of fruit pit carving began in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), and the earliest example of the art dates from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), roughly 1,000 years ago. However, it did not become popular until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). At that time, even the emperor owned masterpieces used as aristocratic decoration. Fruit pit carving became even more popular in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), but after the First and Second Opium Wars, its popularity began to decline.

Fruit pit carving has developed a school of its own in its profound history, and formed its unique characteristics. The use of fruit pits distinguishes this carving art from jade carving, stone carving and root carving, since fruit pit carving is greatly restricted by the shape and veins of the fruit pit. This brings dif fi culty to fruit pit carvers, and it is why almost all the carved fruit pits are boat-shaped, basket-shaped or vase-shaped and have limited themes.

Techniques involved in fruit pit carving are basically the same with other carving arts. The procedure is as follows. First, big, plump and thick fruit pits with the color of dark red are selected. Second, images are designed and drawn on the surface of the fruit pits according to its shape and veins. Third, the outlineof the image is carved roughly. Fourth, the details of the image are carefully engraved. Fifth, the most important parts like the face and hands are perfected to make the image more vivid. Sixth, the finished works are polished to make it bright and smooth.

Carving tools mainly include chisel, rasper and drill. The chisels are usually self-made and have various types like round chisel, line chisel and flat chisel etc. The round ones have arc blades and can be big and small. The big ones are used for engraving the outline while the small ones are used to cut deeply. The line chisel is for carving lines such as hair, pleats and other tiny details that a small round chisel could not do. The flat chisel is for engraving a surface and making the outline. It can also be used to remove the surface of fruit pits and make a stereoscopic impression. The rasper is for modifying the shape of the fruit pits and the drill is for drilling holes.

The earliest works of fruit pit carving was recorded in the article written by Wei Xueyi in the Ming Dynasty. “Su Shi Traveling Chibi”, which was engraved by Wang Shuyuan, a great miniature carving master, depicts five people travelling on a boat. Another master named Xia Baiyan, however, could carve sixteen people on an olive pit, all with different looks.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, fruit pit carving became popular in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. At that time, all men of letters would hold folding fans in their hands. Fruit pit carvings were usually attached to the fans as pendants. In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, famous fruit carving masters like Yang Zhishan and Du Guilan emerged. The works of Du Guilan were even given to foreign state heads as a gift when Premier Zhou Enlai visited the foreign countries.

In the period of the Republic of China, olive pit carving in Zhoushan village by Taihu Lake fl ourished. Zhoushan village has been a cradle for craftsmen sincethe ancient times. According to the records, six out of ten carpenters there were skilled craftsmen, and there were also many carving masters. In the 1930s, olive pit carving master Yin Genfu had broken new ground for fruit pit carving in Suzhou.

Yin Genfu first learned bamboo carving, then tooth carving, and finally olive pit carving. He opened a shop in the Old Temple of Town God in Shanghai, selling bamboo and tooth carving art crafts. Once, he got some olive pits by chance from the boatmen, and decided to make head portraits of Arhats. For this reason, he paid a special trip to the Hall of the Arhats. When he finished the carvings, he stringed these Arhats’ head portraits together and made them into bracelets. These bracelets were sold very well. From then on, he put all his efforts into olive pit carving and specialized in Arhat carving. The Arhats he made are natural and vivid, all having different looks. They were crowned as “Yin’s Arhats”.

The creation of Yin’s Arhat is quite different from that of other carvings. There is no need to draw pictures before carving. Rather, we need only to mark the nose, eyes and ears, with “ fi ve cuts”.

From 1935 to 1938, Yin Genfu’s son Yin Rongsheng, his daughter Yin Xueyun, as well as Xue Yinsheng, Gu Rensheng, Zhong Yuanqing and Zhong Nianfu from the same village became apprentices to Yin Genfu. Together, they created a series of distinctive olive pit carvings and enriched the content and form of olive pit carving. Since then, Yin’s olive pit carving has won worldwide reputation, making Zhoushan a famous“homeland of engraving”, where the carving art is handed down from generation to generation.

Small as it is, fruit pit carvings are well-designed and of great value. They used to be the main source of income of the craftsmen, and thus handed down from generation to generation. Nowadays, as the market for fruit pit carvings emerges quietly, this traditional craft of the Han people is inherited and exuding strong vitality.