When the Chinese ceramics with thousands of years history, encounters the sport of golf - what will happen? What surprise will it bring to the world?
October 20th, when champion Nacho Elvira kissed the Canton Cup Trophy, the striking modern design and unique trophy story will shared by all.
Master Mei, a famous Chinese Master Artist was commissioned to create and craft this unique work of art – the Canton Cup. Constructed entirely of clay, the body of the trophy consists of white ,yellow and black waves of water, which gently support the single golf ball on top. The intricate designs on the base of the trophy represent traditional Foshan architecture.
The three colors on the body represent all the world's peoples – white, yellow ,black and brown. These colors represent not only the players who come from all around the world, but also symbolizes golf bringing international elements to meet Foshan traditional culture.
Ceramic is an important element of Foshan culture. Since the 1980s, Foshan has become one of the largest producers of ceramics in the world. One of the most famous and highly regarded ceramics companies is Shiwan, the home of Master May for more than 50 years. Therefore, when we first considered ceramics as the material for the Foshan Open trophy, we instantly decided that we wanted Master May to create something special.
Once Master May agreed to design the trophy, he took great care as this was his very first golf related ceramic piece. Master May proposed many designs with great Cantonese cultural elements before the current design was agreed upon. During each phase of the production of the trophy, Master May gave his closest attention. In all, the design and crafting of the Canton Cup has taken months. Along the way, Master May kindly allowed our visits and carefully explained each step in the process. In late August, Mr. Ben Cowen, Director of International Policy for the European Challenge Tour visited Shiwan Ceramics too meet Master May and see the progress of the trophy. He was very impressed by the unique design and the story behind the design.
