Ceramic statuette, 'Laboring Day'
Price: $49.95
With its trunk held high in joy, a loyal elephant makes its way to the fields guided by his friendly mahout. They bring with them a big basket to help with the rice harvest. An extraordinary vision of tradition, the piece is designed and crafted of ceramic by Kittikorn. Kittikorn uses modern-day kilns and tools to recreate the ceramic artistry made famous by Sawankaloke artisans since the 12th century, in central Thailand. They used special kilns that were partially underground and reached such high temperatures it took days before the items had cooled enough for the artisans to handle. Kittikorn works with local clays and after hand-painting the item, he uses a glaze of feldspar and longan wood ashes dissolved in water.