Natural Old Mountain Agarwood Aloeswood Sandalwood Blocks Agarwood Incense Tree

Natural old mountain sandalwood strips and blocks

Morphological characteristics

An evergreen small tree, about 10 meters high; branches are cylindrical, gray-brown, striped, with many lenticels and semicircular leaf scars; twigs are slender, light green, and internodes are slightly swollen. Leaves are elliptic-ovate, membranous, 4-8 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, with sharp apex, cuneate or broad cuneate base, more or less decurrent, wavy margins, slightly folded outward, with white powder on the back, midrib raised on the back, about 10 pairs of lateral veins, and inconspicuous reticulate veins; petioles are slender, 1-1.5 cm long. The trifurcated cymose panicle is axillary or terminal, 2.5-4 cm long; there are 2 bracts, tiny, located at the base of the inflorescence, awl-lanceolate, 2.5-3 mm long, caducous; the peduncle is 2-5 cm long; the pedicel is 2-4 mm long, with fine stripes; the flower is 4-4.5 mm long and 5-6 mm in diameter; the perianth is bell-shaped, about 2 mm long, light green; the perianth is 4-lobed, the lobes are ovate-triangular, 2-2.5 mm long, initially green-yellow inside, then dark brown-red; there are 4 stamens, about 2.5 mm long, extending outward; the lobes of the disk are ovate, about 1 mm long; the style is 3 mm long, dark red, and the stigma is shallowly 3 (-4) lobed. The drupe is 1-1.2 cm long and about 1 cm in diameter. The exocarp is juicy and fleshy, dark purple to purple-black when mature, with a slightly flat top. The perianth scar is 5-6 mm in diameter, the persistent stylopodium is more or less raised, and the endocarp has 3-4 longitudinal ridges. Flowering period is May-June, and fruiting period is July-September.

Distribution area

It is cultivated in Guangdong and Taiwan. It is native to the Pacific Islands and is now cultivated most in India.

Plant Culture

For a long time, sandalwood has been closely related to religious activities. Orientals in particular have a special fondness for sandalwood trees in tradition and consciousness, which gives sandalwood trees a mysterious color.
In the Wanfu Pavilion of the Yonghe Palace in Beijing, there is a giant sandalwood Maitreya statue with a height of 26 meters (18 meters above ground and 8 meters underground) and a diameter of 3 meters. The shape is vivid and lifelike. This unique statue was a gift from the 7th Dalai Lama of Tibet in the 15th year of Qianlong (1750) to thank Qianlong for sending troops to quell the rebellion. This sandalwood was collected from a huge sandalwood tree in Nepal. It was transported from land to sea and then to Beijing, which took countless manpower and took 3 years. It was first placed underground and then carefully carved by skilled craftsmen.
Behind the Falun Hall of the Yonghe Palace, there is a Luohan Mountain carved from sandalwood, and 500 Luohan made of gold, silver, copper, iron and tin stand on the mountain, which has become an extremely precious work of art.
Buddhists admire sandalwood, so much so that Buddhist temples are often revered as sandalwood forests or sandalwood forests. Buddhists usually call sandalwood "chandan", which means to bring joy to others and make people happy. As recorded in Huilin Yinyi: "chandan means to bring joy. White sandalwood can cure fever, and red sandalwood can remove swelling. They are all the joy of removing diseases and keeping the body healthy, so they are called "rejoicing". The heartwood of newly cut red sandalwood is bright red or orange-red, and it slowly turns purple-red after being exposed to the outside for a long time. Therefore, red sandalwood is also called "red sandalwood".
Many countries have the custom of burning sandalwood during weddings and sacrifices, and it has continued to this day. When Indian Prime Minister Gandhi's wife died, she burned 1 ton of sandalwood.

Sculpture Art

The high-quality sandalwood and the flexible and exquisite skills of the craftsmen have created a simple, vivid, and vigorous woodcarving art; all of which are reflected in various sandalwood carvings. In general, the expression techniques of sandalwood carving have the following characteristics:
1. Simple techniques to reproduce the charm
Sandalwood carvings are influenced by local culture in terms of both the conception and carving techniques, but most of them are exaggerated, bold, simple and vivid. Some works are people are bigger than trees, and trees are bigger than mountains, with moderate changes and exaggerated and restrained. When carving figures, they are not limited to the facial expressions, nor are they limited to the proportions of various parts of the human body. The focus is on the dynamic portrayal of the figures, and the objects are vivid, thus reflecting the simplicity and brightness of the shapes. The specific forms are integrated with abstract factors, reflecting the humorous and active momentum, making the works full of vitality. The overall feeling of sandalwood carvings is vigorous and simple, implicit connotation, and appropriate details. This vivid freehand style gives viewers unlimited reverie. [3]
2. Lines are used to the extreme
In Chinese art, line modeling is the main form of expression to show national characteristics. For sandalwood carvings, they are often simple and freehand, with little emphasis on volume and realism. Most of them use lines with clear layers and a combination of reality and illusion. Lines become the expression language of the works, which are more or less influenced by the expression methods of traditional paintings. In actual carving, whether it is flowers, plants, or people and animals, they are all effectively organized together like composition paintings. The graceful lines in the works break the constraints of modeling proportions. Its refined and simple sense of pattern makes sandalwood carvings exude extraordinary beauty. [3]
3. Appropriate modeling, casual techniques
In fact, looking at various sandalwood works, whether they are furniture decorations or architectural decorations, they all show the ingenious conception of the works and the characteristics of exquisite and flexible material selection. In the creation process of various works, various techniques are incorporated. These sandalwood carvings have novel composition and free subject matter. In order to emphasize the boldness and exaggeration of the works, they reflect the romantic feelings of the craftsmen who are not constrained by reason. Sandalwood carving is a folk art form, and naturally has its unique artistic value. When craftsmen deal with wood carving themes and shape the image of their works, they often display artistic connotations through their works, express the carvers' simple feelings, and reflect the interest of folk art. Sandalwood carving has extremely profound artistic connotations. After thousands of years of development and innovation, its content and expression forms are naturally more colorful, fully reflecting the artistic imagination and creativity of the craftsmen.