Elephant Wall Sculptures

Repousse panel, Elephant Migration

Narrow trails lead through clouded forest in a scene of exceptional beauty. Walking together across the landscape, elephants of all ages join a pachyderm migration. Revered icons in Thai culture, elephants are symbols of royal power, essential features of Buddhist art and architecture, and spiritual mentors. Thiva Boonnak portrays them in glowing repouss. She applies pitch to a sheet of aluminum and embosses the motifs by hand. Once the work is engraved, she heats the sheet to remove the pitch and plunges it into a bath of boiling acid. She then washes it in a tamarind fruit solution and polishes it. The repouss panel is affixed to a panel of rain tree wood.

Repousse panel, Elephant Neighbors

Rolling hills and luscious trees provide perfect scenery for elephants splashing about in a cool, clear stream. Some look after their calves and others carry logs; together they make a wonderful community struggling against the threat of extinction. Thiva Boonnak celebrates Thailand's magnificent pachyderms with an inspired aluminum repousse panel that is detailed to vivid perfection. Arrives in a fine rain tree wood frame.

Teak relief panel, Elephant Baby

Lifting his trunk to trumpet, a baby elephant wanders the Thai rain forest. Nittaya Cherdchu captures his joy in a beautiful teakwood relief carving.

Wood hanger, Elephant Fest

Elephants march toward a trio of pachyderms beneath a parasol. Nagas curl sinuously upward at either end. In Hindu legend, nagas are divine serpents (half human and half snake) that live in underground palaces. They are worshipped as heralds of fertility, responsible for rain, but also for disasters such as floods and droughts. Yodchai Saelor carves the intricate motifs on a rain tree wood hanger. It features hooks in the back to facilitate wall display.

Cotton wall hanging, Thai Elephant

A deep blue background presents a quartet of captivating elephants, their black forms outlined in luminous tracery. Florid, symmetrical motifs representative of Yao artistry complement these noble creatures, as stylish points evoke an aura of dynamic energy. Suneeporn Tanjaipetch crafts the wall hanging by hand from to represent ancient Thai sentiments. A singular addition to the home decor. Its name, Chang Siam, means "Thai elephant." The ancestors of the Yao people lived in the Hunan Province of China some 2,000 years ago. Today, the Yao live in southern China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. In Thailand, there are approximately 55,000 Yao living in scattered villages, and an estimated 10,000 from Laos live in refugee camps along the border. They have such unique lifestyles that the various communities are quite different from one another. Nonetheless their villages are usually found on beautiful low hills and in mountainous valleys with dense forests. These areas are teeming with wild animals and are rich in natural resources, allowing them to develop a diversified economy. The Yao people have a rich tradition of oral literature. For instance, when a group of people is working in the fields, several persons sing and beat drums to enliven their labors. Some of the songs tell love stories, others tell of Yao history, the legends about the creation of heaven and earth, etc. The singers also ask questions of each other or tell funny stories, adding a joyous atmosphere and synchronizing working movements. The Yao are expert weavers, dyers, and embroiderers. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), they wove special fabrics made from tree bark and dyed them with grass seeds, later becoming experts dyeing with beeswax and indigo. Yao women are renowned for their magnificent cross-stitch embroidery, which richly decorates the clothing of every member of their families. The Yao distinguish themselves from other tribal peoples with magnificent attire and jewelry, for their silversmiths produce jewelry of the highest quality. As each item is a unique expression of the artisan's creativity, there may exist slight variations in the color and pattern.