wood craft

Handcrafted of sleek Thai mango wood, this elegant vase is adorned with pewter. Jaifah Aksornsri evokes a coral reef with this exquisite design.

Masterfully hand-carved by Balinese artisan Sarwaedi, this decorative mahogany vase depicts the mythical Javanese creature Anantaboga. Ancient legend maintains that when Bali was created, the dragon god Anantaboga entered the bottom layer of the earth and thus became the support of the island. The artisan gives the vase an antiqued look with the application of paints in brown, black, green and gold.

Evoking the spirit of Bosumtwi Lake, Ali Ibrahim crafts a beautiful decorative vase. He carves the piece by hand, adding rich repoussé textures with embossed aluminum and brass, and accentuating the contours with colors. Deep enough to hold silk flowers or foliage, the vase can stand alone as a sculptural work of art.

Delicate snowflakes flutter to earth in deep, soft drifts. The exquisite mosaic adorns a mango wood vase, finished in lacquer. Working with ancestral techniques, Nantana Sompamitre crafts the beautiful piece by hand. Once the wood is carved into the desired shape it is coated with lacquer. Once dried it is polished, and another coat is applied – up to twenty times – before as many six coats of pure lacquer are present. The final layer is polished with powdered fired clay. Next, eggshells are cleaned and cracked into small pieces. Sompamitre arranges them in the desired pattern on a fresh coat of lacquer. The piece is lacquered twice more and sanded in water until the eggshells appear.

Achieving the illusion of wood with skillfully applied glazes, Matilda Elizabeth Amissah crafts a beautiful vase. It flairs gracefully from a narrow neck to form a V-shape. Neatly woven rattan adorns the border.

Golden lotus blossoms flourish in a sleek black garden. Perpetuating Thailand's ancient lacquerware tradition, Subin Tositarat presents this beautiful decorative vase, crafted and painted by hand.

The stunning colours of this decorative vase are achieved by pulverizing rocks to obtain natural pigments that are mixed with water and then set on the vase with the help of traditional wood-burning brick kilns. Costa Rica's Nury Marchena masters the ancient Chorotega pottery technique and crafts a lovely ceramic vase featuring abstract motifs as well as a pair of toucans perching on a tree branch.

Golden bamboo stalks flourish in a sleek black garden. Perpetuating Thailand's ancient lacquerware tradition, Subin Tositarat presents this beautiful decorative vase, crafted and painted by hand. Originating in China, the art of lacquer ware has blossomed over the centuries in Chiang Mai.