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Bonsai accessories and decorations can be considered anything that help to comment upon and further the meaning of
whatever the bonsai composition is. They can specify a particular season or event or location or even size
that we want to highlight in and by our planting. This subject also includes, of course, so-called
companion plantings (kusamono or shitakusa) and accessories outside the pot -- technically anything else that,
for instance might be near the bonsai in a tokonoma or the display table -- or in the container with the bonsai.
Non-planted and non-grown-over rocks, gravel pathways, porcelain or metal figurines (people or animals) and structures
(huts, shrines, walls, doorways, etc.) would be among the latter. Traditional Japanese presentations do not have any internal accessories or decorations besides an occasional planted or non-planted rock, while some Chinese, contemporary/pop Japanese, and Western compositions might include something(s) chosen from a whole range of addditions. All of the accessories and decorations can be placed in the following seven categories. 1) EXTERNAL COMPANION-PLANTINGS OR STONES: Kusamono; Shitakusa; Shohin or smaller bonsai; Suiseki/Gongshi/Viewing Stones (with or without base or daiza or basin). 2) EXTERNAL GRAPHIC : Hanging scroll; Presentation stand, table, slab, etc.; Backdrop/wall, table cloth, etc.; Nearby window, lighting, shadow, silhouette, visible air movement, incense/scents, etc.; Larger miniature structures or figurines (see below) might also be used externally. 3) INTERNAL NATURAL-SOURCED : Rocks (non-planted or root-over); Mosses and other small plants; Small grained gravel pathways and streams. 4) INTERNAL MINIATURE STRUCTURES : Pagoda/Gazebo/Shrine; Hut/Other Building (The "hobbit house front door and mound" which might be seen from time to time would be included here, even if its removal from under the tree might disrupt the integrity of the planting.); Section of wall or fence (Similarly, a section of wall with a fig growing over and above. And, yes, Nick Lenz's Penelope would be included here as well.); Treehouse; Swing (board, tire, etc.), tied to/suspended from a more horizontal branch; Vehicle (cart/wheelbarrow, automobile/truck, motorcycle/bicycle, rowboat/other water vessel, airplane/balloon, etc.). 5) INTERNAL MINIATURE ANIMALS AND HUMANS : Clay, porcelain, wood, plastic, or metal Animals (deer, water buffalo, cat/lion/tiger, dog/fox/wolf, rabbit, lion, giraffe, bear, moose, monkey, birds, fish, etc.); Clay, porcelain, wood, plastic, or metal Human figurines (monk, philosopher, fisherman, poet/writer, children, etc.). 6) SOME CONTAINERS : Formal Pots with specific external decorations and panels, water features, geometric shapes, etc.; Informal Pots such as literati crescents, root-in-rock containers, etc.; Slabs, boards, etc., to rest the pots on to portray a visual ground or keep an underneath tablecloth clean. 7) DISPLAY AREAS : Backyard or nursery shelving, stands, or plinths; Formal display tables, tokonomas, etc.; Boulders, pathways, nearby ground or container plantings, lanterns or electric lighting, pathways, water containers or features including fountains and waterfalls (with or without moving water, planted or non-planted, and with or without koi/goldfish), area music or sounds or windchimes, incense/scents, tents/gazebos/pergolas, etc., borrowed scenery, etc. |
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| This page is a work in progress. Anyone who knows of additional information regarding bonsai accessories and decorations is asked to please contact rjb@magiminiland.org. Contributor acknowledgment will be posted. Please include as many details as possible. Thank you! |