Artist’s lifelike peanut sculpture mistakenly seized by Japan customs

Artist’s lifelike peanut sculpture mistakenly seized by Japan customs

2025-11-28

Inspired by his childhood growing up on a farm, Kaohsiung sculptor Tseng Ching-tung specializes in carving peanuts out of wood. Turns out they’re a little too realistic. When mailing his sculpture of peanuts and shells to Japan for an art competition, they were seized by customs for two days. Fortunately, they made it safely to their destination in the end. Let’s see just how realistic they are...

It’s hard not to be tempted by this platter of peanuts, some still in the shell and others broken open to reveal the peanut inside. But they’re actually all carved out of wood. Even if you look closely, they still look real. It was good enough to fool Japanese customs, which seized the sculpture.

Tseng Ching-tung
Sculptor
I found Japan’s customs were holding it, and were even going to send it for testing. This is an artwork, not a banned product. I broke out into a sweat. You can’t import nuts. Ah, they really look like nuts.

Fortunately, after customs kept it for two days and tested it, they confirmed it was just wood. On Oct. 30, they forwarded the artwork to the contest, where it was selected for the finals and exhibited at an art center in Kobe. The outer shells are made of hinoki while the nuts are a slightly reddish juniper. Just one takes an entire day to carve. To make the entire platter, it took over a month.

Tseng Ching-tung
Sculptor
It’s not easy being a farmer. We have an affinity for and understanding of these crops. So I’ll carve things that relate to our lives as farmers.

67-year-old Tseng used to install intercoms before running a parking lot, both careers that have nothing to do with art. But 15 years ago, after Typhoon Morakot, he saw lots of driftwood by the shore and imagined giving it new life. So he studied how to sculpt out of wood, and is now a master at making these remarkably lifelike nuts.

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#sculptor #carving #art #peanuts #Kaohsiung #artist #customs #lifelife #realistic #artcontest #scuplture

"花生木雕"太逼真! 雕刻家曾慶棟參賽作品遭海關誤扣

2025-11-28

高雄雕刻家曾慶棟，自幼在農村長大，特別喜歡以木頭雕刻花生，沒想到他日前寄到日本參賽，以花生殼跟花生仁為主題的作品，實在太逼真，居然遭到日本海關扣留兩天，幸好最後順利送達，到底有多像，帶您來看看！

一看差點要放進嘴裡，滿滿一大盤，有還沒剝殼的，也有剝掉外殼，露出花生仁的，但這盤花生，可通通都是木頭雕刻，乍看之下，還以為是真的，導致雕刻家曾慶棟的作品"似真是假"，被日本海關扣留。

[[雕刻家曾慶棟]]
“發現說怎麼被日本海關留置，還說要送驗，我這是藝術品又不是違禁品，我一頭霧水，原來堅果類不能進口，啊我的花生就像堅果。”

幸好日本海關扣留兩天，經過查驗，確認是木雕，10月30日作品送達大會，並入選決賽，在神戶日本藝術中心展出。而這個小小的花生雕刻品，外殼是檜木，花生仁色澤偏紅，就選用龍柏，實木的花生作品，一個就得耗時一天，整盤做好，至少得花一個月以上。

[[雕刻家曾慶棟]]
“在農村的生活真的是不簡單，所以我們對農村這些農作物，比較有感情比較了解，所以我刻的主題，都會針對農村這些生態來作主題。”

67歲的曾慶棟，原本從事對講機安裝，後來經營停車場，跟藝術完全無關，15年前八八風災後，在海邊看到大量漂流木，心中萌生「讓木材重生」的想法，鑽研雕刻，如今成為花生雕刻達人。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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