Following my last posting on the Snow Lion doll designed by Susie Vickery and Tibetan artisans at the Dropenling handicrafts center in Lhasa, Susie wrote from Lhasa enclosing some photos of prototypes for next season that she is working on.

Seen here are two new glove puppets with Tiger and Snow Lion designs. These will be on sale in Dropenling next year. The gentleman in the center is Arthur Holcombe, founder of the Tibet Poverty Alleviation fund and the Dropenling center. He is not for sale.

We've just received a new shipment of Tibetan cashmere shawls at our Torana Beijing store, so I'm going to take the opportunity here to describe what Cashmere is ... and also what it isn't.

Cashmere is a very fine, soft material that is neither wool nor hair. It comes from the Pashmina goats (hence it's alternative name) that live at high altitudes. In the case of our cashmere, that means Tibet.

The altitude is important, because the purpose of the downy cashmere is to keep the goat warm in winter. Many animals living at high elevations grow cashmere coats under their outer fur or hair, even yaks (the yak version of cashmere is called kulu), but the type from the pashmina goat is the whitest and softest available. Pashmina goats live very happily at lower altitudes, but they don't produce good cashmere if the weather is too warm.

The material got its name "Cashmere" because it became popular in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries and the country doing most of the weaving of Tibetan cashmere in those days was Kashmir. In those days most shawls were woven with traditional paisley designs from the Kashmiri weaver's traditional repertoire. Today shawl designs are a great deal more varied and they are made in several locations around the Himalayas.

These days a great many shawls and scarves are on sale in China and elsewhere that are called "Cashmere" or "Pashmina". The problem for the buyer is that these include a range of materials from Tibetan cashmere (best, because of the altitude) through Mongolian cashmere (lesser quality) to New Zealand wool (artificially fluffed to make it seem like cashmere). Until you are familiar with the real thing these materials can be difficult to tell apart. Most of the inexpensive "Cashmere" that I have seen on sale in Beijing is not cashmere at all. This includes the countless shawls in shades of chemical pink and blue that are sold in the markets here.

Cashmere can also be bought in pure form, or in blends with silk. The pure form is more expensive, not only because of the cashmere content, but because it is slower and more difficult to weave than thread blended with silk. In Torana we have both pure cashmere shawls and 70%cashmere/30% silk shawls, the pure shawls being about twice the price of the blends. Both are attractive and woven and designed to the same standard so this is a matter of choice and budget.

Aside from considerations of fiber content, weave quality is also critical with cashmere. A very light touch is needed to bring out the best in the fiber, and good cashmere should have a "floaty" feel as well as being soft.

Finally, as with any luxury item, design is just as important as materials. Good quality cashmere is usually synonymous with good color and design, since it is worthwhile to employ a good designer to make the most of the best material.

There are some pictures of (some of) our new designs on this page of our website.

"Metersbonwe" is not a name that trips off the tongue for most non-Chinese, but you will know it as a famous clothing brand if you are 20-something and from the PRC. The owner of this Chinese clothing chain, Zhou ChengJian, has recently created what has become China's foremost costume museum, encompassing court robes, Qipao from the 1920s and (above all) the costumes of China's ethnic minority groups.

This is a field that until recently was of interest mainly to foreigners and overseas Chinese. Mr Zhou's revelation came during a visit to the United Kingdom in 2003, when he found that many of the relics exhibited in country houses and museums "were from China, and among them were rare ancient Chinese costumes and ornaments" ... thus inspiring "a sense of duty to protect Chinese costumes of all ethnic groups". He set about building a collection that is now displayed at the Metersbonwe flagship store in Shanghai. I saw the collection a couple of days ago, and it is superb. It's strength lies in some fine and early examples of ethnic costume, particularly in the complete outfits collected by Mr Zhou. the exhibit is also well set out with explanations in both English and Chinese.




Metersbonwe Costume Museum, 387 Nanjing Dong Lu, Shanghai (the museum is housed on the top floor of the 5 storey shop in the pedestrianised part of Nanjing Road)
Open 7 days a week, 10am-8pm
admission free
www.mbmuseum.org

The art show ShContemporary runs from 11th to 13th September, and this year features a number of international galleries, including Rossi and Rossi from London, who this year will feature work by Tibetan artists.

Tibetan contemporary art is a relatively new field, with international exhibitions including Tibetan works for the first time in the last 2-3 years. The origin of the current crop of Lhasa-based artists can be traced to the Gedun Choephel gallery, situated on Lhasa's Barkhor square and founded by a professor from the Lhasa university. One of the first major exhibitions of works by artists from this group was sponsored by Ian Alsop, who invited artists to paint on the theme of the Lhasa Train, the new line for which was being completed at the time. Ian has also shown Tibetan artists work at his Peaceful Wind gallery in Santa Fe.

More recent shows have included the Red Gate gallery's show Lhasa - New Art from Tibet at their Beijing gallery in the 798 district and shows by Rossi and Rossi in London. Both were excellent, and the catalogue from Brian Wallace and Tony Scott's  798 show is a must-have for those interested in this field.

Gade is a particularly interesting figure amongst this group: his paintings (such as the one shown here) depart from the styles normally seen amongst young Chinese artists and incorporate tradtional objects such as the handmade paper used for traditional Tibetan books. I was particularly struck by a "performance" piece of an ice Buddha melting in the Kyichu river at Lhasa at the 798 show and bought one of the prints that recorded the work.

I am not sure that I will be able to attend the Shanghai show (I will be in Shanghai the day before giving a talk to the Royal Asiatic Society, but need to head back to Beijing for another appointment...) but I would be interested to hear feedback from any Shanghai residents who go to it. It's in the Shanghai Exhibition Center (ie the Russian-looking building with the pointy spire on top!) on Yan An road.