Monday, March 12, 2012

Indonesian Coconut Shell Carving

When R and I were in Bali we saw some carved coconut shell lights in the markets, most of the designs were fairly simple. But when we went on a sightseeing trip to a temple outside of Ubud, we found this old man who had been carving coconut shells for his whole life. His designs (in the photo above) are quite elaborate and magical. We zeroed in on one that was really cool with monkeys carved in it, he said we picked his favorite work and wouldn't sell it, but showed us another that was similar. ...

The design also has monkeys, if you look hard you can see their bodies and arms and tails. It sits on another carved shell base.

Sometimes these lights are lit by candle, but we put a electric bulb in ours when we got back to Malaysia. It looks pretty cool at night as our master bedroom is dark brown so the light makes the room very moody. I tried to search more on Indonesian coconut shell carving, not much out there on the web.


14 comments:

  1. Wow, the carvings are really intricate. Looks good in the bedroom. How did you secure the light bulb to the coconut shell?

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  2. Nice, interesting and different.

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  3. I think it is a good find. I love the intricate and cultural designs. I think it will also look nice in my garden with candle light. K, how are you? It's been quite some time since you last blogged.

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  4. What happened? Did you stop writing to the blog?

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  5. havent seen any updates from you in a while. it got us worried too. is everything ok?

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  6. Those are coconut shells! They are so beautifully carved. I love how they look with the lights in them. Thank you for sharing your find.


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  7. very beautiful and amazing, the works are from which country? if i may know
    greetings from Obat Perangsang Wanita to you and good luck

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  8. My name is Joe Pinzone and I'm casting an international travel show about expats moving abroad. We'd love to film in Malaysia and wanted to know if you could help us find expats who have moved there within the last 15 months or have been there for 3-4 years, but recently moved into a new home. The show documents their move to a new country and will place the country in fabulous light. The contributors on the show would also receive monetary compensation if they are filmed. If you'd like more information, please give me a call at 212-231-7716 or skype me at joefromnyc. You can also email me at joepinzone@leopardusa.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Joe Pinzone
    Casting Producer
    P: 212-231-7716
    Skype: Joefromnyc

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  9. I saw some coconut shell lights in Thailand, but they are simpler than these designs. All lights are very amazing.

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  10. That is a really nice space, I cannot believe we do not have products like this in America, love these Malayisan coconut lights. The furniture is on point.

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  11. How did you secure the light bulb to the coconut shell?
    https://teaklight.com/

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