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Jurojin
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Ebisu | Bishamonten | Daikoku | Benzaiten | Fukurokuju | JUROJIN | Hotei

With origins in the Taoist pantheon, Jurojin originated as a Chinese God of Intellect and Wisdom or the Immortal of the Northern Song. But over a period of time, was adopted within the Japanese Shinto Seven Lucky Gods as the God of Longevity. He is generally depicted in sculptures as an old man with a long white beard, holding a staff that has a scroll or a book attached. The scroll or book is considered to be a record of the life spans of living beings. Jurojin has a messenger with him always in the form of a deer, stag, tortoise or a crane which are also symbols of longevity.

Another attribute that Jurojin is known to bless is the Good luck as he is the personification of the Southern Pole Star. Usually confused with Fukurokuju due to many similarities, Jurojin is often recognized with his trademark glass of sake in one hand that Fukurokuju lacks.

In Japan, Jurojin is also known as Roujinseishi. Most of the statues of Jurojin represent him as a small old man with a wide forehead but smaller than Fukurokuju’s head. He is depicted wearing robes, holding a knobby staff that has the book attached while in the other hand he holds a glass of Sake. Jurojin usually has the tortoise or the black deer accompanying him. Within the Seven Lucky Gods, Jurojin is a popular deity who is much sought after even today. Considered to bring good luck and long life, people like to keep statues of either all the Seven Gods or even individual statues at home or at their workplace.

While tracing the origin of Jurojin or the Taoist God Shoulaoren, as he was originally known in China, legends attribute him to be based on an 11th century monk, who was said to be over 6 feet in height and had an elongated head. He is usually depicted in paintings as an old man with a beard carrying a fan and a scroll. Known to be over 1, 500 years old, another symbol of longevity that is often associated with him is the plum tree, under which he is shown standing.

Numerous figurines and statues of Jurojin are available crafted by hand in a variety of materials but the most popular ones are in wood and ivory. Considered to bring good luck and fortune, Jurojin can be invoked individually or within the Seven Lucky Gods.

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You can browse much more carved Mammoth Ivory Tusk artifacts at our Mammoth Ivory Figurines collection.


 


IvoryAndArt Resources

Happy New Year - Year of the Snake 2013!

The Snake has been an important part of all myths from the Hindu mythology to the Christian. But in the Chinese Zodiac Snake holds a key position of an interesting person, a great seducer, charming and a social person. Snake is known for his charisma and strength in the Zodiac calendar. Though the Snake has loads of positive attitude, they are prone to dominate in relationships. They are mystical and remain committed to their belief systems.

With high energy and confidence, the zodiacs that best compliment the Snake are Ox, Horse, Rooster, Dog and Sheep. Other animals that can share a cordial relationship are Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon and Rat. At any cost avoid the Monkey or even another Snake. Read all article about YEAR Of The Snake

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Mammoth ivory, Elephant Ivory - real or fake?

There is always a fear that the ivory sculpture that you bought might turn out to be a fake, because as a layman you may not be able to differentiate between a clever replicas and real ivory. However, with experience in this field and handling nearly all types of ivory, it becomes easy to differentiate just by seeing it.

Even though pure ivory can be of various quality and types, the fake ivory is made from resins. The powder that is left after sawing/carving ivory or remnants from bone sculptures are not wasted but all added to resins, put into molds.

Mammoth ivory tusk

The sculptures are then cleaned and then dipped in dark hued stains that give them the brownish tinge. There is always a difference in weight between a resin ivory and real ivory as real ivory is very heavy...Read all article about your Mammoth Ivory fake or real?

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