Peaceful Pagoda

Today's sweet thrift store find was a Chinese artwork,a peaceful pagoda scene carved in intricate dimensional detail from cork. It is 9 inches by 21 inches. The deep beveled mat is wrapped in silk. I did a bit of web research and now think this piece is from the early 1900's. It is in amazingly good shape, with just a few small crumbs of cork that have broken off. This crummy photo with reflections on the glass does not do it justice.

In this close-up you can see the detailed carving and the background painting in blue ink.

A Good Reason to Get a Water Buffalo

Yesterday I found the coolest bell at Goodwill! Well, I guess you call it a bell, despite the fact that it is hand-carved from wood and makes more of a clattering than a ringing sound. It has two hinged external clappers.

It looked sort of southeast Asian to me, but I could envision it worn by one of my hoped-for Icelandic sheep. It would also make a terrific percussion instrument for the musicians in the family.

I searched the internet last night trying to learn its origin. I only found two references to a similar bell: one was an image of a cow in Thailand wearing a bell much like this, and the other was a description of a wooden bell with two exernal clappers used on water buffalo. Hmmm...water buffalo might be good on a small sustainable farm...