HISTORICAL BACKDROP
Peach pits have
been carved for
several centuries: Tim Hallman
of the
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California contends that the craft
originated in China
where the Peach is a symbol of longevity(1); Wang
Xu-De, in a summary about the history of peach pit carving in China,
notes "Peach stone carving has a long history in China and is first
recorded in the middle of the Song dynasty [960 -1279]"(2); it also is recorded
that AHandiwork of
pit carving was all the rage for a time in the Ming [1368-1644]
and Qing [1644 -1911] Dynasties.@(3); [and] folklore
exhibits of the Sichuan University Museum in south-central
China include Asome fantastically small carvings
including a miniature boat and crew carved from a peach pit.@(4)
More recently:
Michigan State University lists "Peach Pit
Carving" on
its
"... topical file subjects" relating to the Michigan
Traditional Arts Program. Articles have been published
about peach pit
carving in both China and America in, for example, the periodical Chip Chats.
Carvings have been
displayed at art and craft festivals. And, a few web sites describe
and/or illustrate relatively recently
carved peach pits.
So far as the
place peach pit
carving has in the world of arts and crafts, the
following
rather apt statement seems to "say it all" – i.e.,
for all, save a few professional, peach pit
carvers whom I know or have read about: "This
unusual art form seems not to
be attached to any specific region, ethnic group, or occupation.
One simply
occasionally finds folks who like to sit down and carve tiny figures
and baskets out of
peach pits...@(5).
PITS and TOOLS
Peach pits, sometimes referred to
as peach stones or even peach
seeds, comprise the cores
of the widely eaten fruit called peach.
In
America, several peach varieties, most of which are hybrids, have been
given
names such as
Redhaven and Georgia Belle. All, however, fall into two major
groups, usually referred to in
the vernacular as Afree
stone@ and Acling.@ – I have been unable to find out whether the six rather
different varieties recorded as supplying the recognizably
different
peach pits used for carving in China(6) also fit into these two overall categories. – In any case, it
has been my experience that
the pits in today=s hybrid
peaches – i.e., the ones readily availble in
markets in the United States and Canada –
are not nearly so amenable to carving as the
pits from the peaches availble during the 1930s and 40s were.
Also, it seems to me that for the most part pits from cling
peaches are more workable than those
from free stone peaches.Peach pits consist of two main parts: an outside hard wood-like material (putamen) and an enclosed nut-like, cyanide-containing seed (kernel). The wood-like material, which is carved, typically has many irregularly shaped open spaces and a hardness similar to that of hard maple, except for a softer zone where it was attached to the stem. Unlike most wood, however, the typical peach pit has virtually no grain except along one of its edges (see Figure1B). The seed is removed from most carvings, and in any case does not become part of the finished products. With a few exceptions, pits I have seen have greatest dimensions that range from 2 cm to 4.5 cm – i.e., from ~ 3/4 to ~1 3/4 inches. Their colors range from light tan to medium brown with some having reddish or yellowish orange hues For more information: CLICK HERE
