Red and Gold Decorative Carved Lintel colour-warm-elm warm elm finish to show

warm elm finish to show the beautiful grain of the wood

dark finish that brings out the natural beauty and grain of the material

These lovely bowls are made from coconut shells

either on an ancestral altar or made for burial with the dead

are beautifully smooth and made attractive ornaments

Red and Gold Decorative Carved Lintel colour-warm-elm warm elm finish to showJiangsu, circa 1880 Salvaged from a home in Jiangsu province in eastern China, this brightly decorated panel once formed part of an internal wall as a lintel. The deep red lacquer of the main section is adorned with relief carvings picked out in gold showing pagoda roofed houses, trees and, set centrally, three distinguished elders. The middle figure holds a 'ruyi' sceptre an ancient auspicious symbol for power and good fortune and a sign of nobility.