Exquisite design marks Year of the Rat mug by award-winning designer
By Huang Zhiling | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-03-03 22:01
The mug's body is decorated with an adorable relief depicting two rats, mother and son, trying to put the coins into the puman. The petite young rat climbs toward the top of the puman carrying a giant coin, leaving behind a series of tiny footprints. His plump mother sits at the bottom with her paws up and eyes fixated on the lianqian in front of her, determined to get the coins.
The juxtaposition of high and low, movement and stillness provides a lively dynamic to the mug, while the contract between the chunky coins and the clever and nimble rats creates a blend of whimsy and coziness. The mother rat and the baby rat share a powerful connection and work together to accumulate wealth for the family.
"I turned the fairies into a mother-son duo and use their playful yet intimate moment to add an element of maternal bond and familial bliss to the mug, which carries the good wishes of many future offspring and a big, happy family," Shi said.
The rat mug, like all of Shi's zodiac mugs, boasts a delicate balance between high functionality and poetic design. The exquisite strainer separates the liquid and the tea leaves, making it easier for the user to drink the tea, maximizing their enjoyment.
Every element involved in the design, from the water and rat to puman and lianqian, is associated with the notion of creating and preserving wealth, thus making this mug a representation of the happiness and good fortune to come in the Year of the Rat, some buyers of the mug said.
Shi, an American born to Chinese parents from Southwest China's Sichuan province, was born in 1964.
He was honored with the Red Dot Design Award, one of the top three design prizes in the world, for four consecutive years from 2009 to 2012 for his work in natural materials, like bamboo.
To acknowledge his contribution to bamboo design, the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization included Shi in its 2017 publication, 100 Heroes of China's Bamboo Industry, and invited him to present a keynote speech at the inaugural Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress in Beijing in June 2018.
