Friday, February 22, 2008

Wooden - Photo Hunt

Hand carved wooden house signs in Mandarin.

These wooden signs are made the traditional way in Chinatown. I was shopping in Chinatown when I came across this man carving a wooden plaque in front of his shop. All the wooden signs are h
and chiselled in select woods and cost from S$100 each. (It's expensive.)

They make a super housewarming gift!


Along the rows of preserved historic shops houses on both sides of the streets in Chinatown, you can also find stuff like lacquer ware, woodcrafts, masks, antiques, furniture etc.


I usually post early for PhotoHunt. For members only who comment, please post your link here so I can return your visit.
SPAM will be deleted.





86 comments:

Kok said...

eastcoastlife,
$100 for one piece? That's real expensive loh!

L B said...

I would like one that's natural, without the coloring.. Discount $50? :-)

Dizzy Dee said...

They're beautiful though, and we need to have a house warming part soon - I'll maybe hint to my guests that I want something like that :D

Or maybe one day I'll just buy one myself.... Pity its so expensive though!

Doreen said...

Beautiful! That's a very good gift idea...I spotted my surname on the pic! Hehehe

eastcoastlife said...

Kok,
Yes, it's expensive. Depends on the type of wood selected and probably because it's a tourist area, he tends to charge more.

eastcoastlife said...

LB,
You want one? Email me your surname and I'll get one done for you for less than S$50 when I go to China.

eastcoastlife said...

Dizzy Dee,
It's indeed a unique and thoughtful housewarming gift. ^-^

eastcoastlife said...

Doreen,
Oh... let me guess which one is your surname ah! :)

angeles said...

woot! i also spotted my surname ;)

ellenheartbeats said...

That is one of a kind collection of my hubby...its only now that I knew that it is expensive huh..usually he brought here diff.wooden collections during his vacation from work abroad.

eastcostlife...hope you can find time to visit mine too..Take care my friend!

ellenheartbeats said...

hey eastcoastlife! btw. I got a fab award for you as well as tag for you...hope you can do the tag for fun....

julie said...

Expensive though these maybe, hard-carved and personally done, I think it is worth the money.

Have a great weekend, ECL. My PH will be up tomorrow. :) I am still making a post and will just published it after I have time-stamped.

Satkuru said...

you just seem to have everything prepared for the themes :P hahaha

eh thats a good idea for gifts, though it's kinda steep :D

have a great weekend !

Yen said...

That's nice..But they're expensive..:) Nice entry!

Leonard said...

although the thing looked simple but need a lot of effort to carve!

but the price is indeed on the high side!

mistipurple said...

the old man's retirement fund, unless he has a boss who takes 3/4 of the takings, lol. must pay rent mah. ;)

napaboaniya said...

All those sirnames with many strokes "gain" lor :P

Mar said...

Those are beautiful!!

A Simple Life said...

My, that's really expensive, but I'd love to have one, lol.

Happy weekend.

mommy's little corner said...

Yes, these are wonderful gift ideas. Happy hunting.

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Another fascinating viewpoint, ECL.

littlepolaris said...

I didn't find any of that when I went to chinatown in London.or else i would be a nice valentine's gift.

Randi said...

These are beautiful!
I don´t think it is expensive!
Don´t forget that these are hand made!

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Good stuff, eastcoastlife.
Have a great weekend.

may said...

$100? gosh that's very expensive ler. nice but I won't buy it...

jams o donnell said...

Expensive but they look great. Nice take on this week's theme. Happy Weekend

keeyit said...

expensive le the address.. some more still got people using it nowadays ?

Carver said...

Those are beautiful hand carved signs. Good choice for the wooden theme.

tigerfish said...

I'm not in Photo Hunt so I just leave a comment rather than a link.
So, where is your "zhai" ?? A bit too chi-na leh!

Huey said...

I guess $100 for the craftsmanship is consider OK la. At least it's handmade, not machine made. :D

hanneng said...

not many people know this traditional skill, I'm not surprising of the high price.

however, due to high price, not many people willing to spend money to buy one too.

RennyBA said...

Looks like a perfect gift - thanks for sharing!

Wishing you a great end to your week :-)

jmb said...

I think the signs are lovely and I would be willing to pay. But I hope no one would steal the sign!
Have a great weekend ECL

Heart of Rachel said...

It's beautiful. It must take a lot of effort and skill to make one.

BTW, you have an award on my blog (on my Thursday Thirteen).

Trinity said...

wow... really expensive! Is that a name carved or just a beautiful saying?

Criz Lai said...

Sweat~~~ so "cheap"? It seems that handcrafted items are getting good prices in Singapore.

Hop in for some fun to have a more alert mind this weekend in Criz’s Sanctuary and/or have a look into the history of the Chinese culture in Insight Criz. Have a nice weekend!

Heather said...

Wow, that is expensive! Still they are lovely.

ancient one said...

That's a good idea for the theme this week. Good Post!

mott said...

WOW..that's expensive!

This one is a lil tough for me this round...

I wudda posted a pix of meself..seeing that I'm quite 'kayu'...

hee hee..but dun think the angmohs wud get it. ;-)

carolinespicturepages.com said...

Those are nice. Can't imagine spending that on it. Would love it as a gift.

Bonggamom said...

I can understand why they cost so much, it must be difficult to carve those out. What do the signs say?

leslie said...

These are beautiful. Such talent!

Natalie said...

Those are really neat! Too expensive for me, but they're cool.

ipanema said...

those hand carved sings are expensive but beautiful.

thanks for the visit. :)

Lemonjude said...

A nice piece of wooden craft. If ones like it I don't think the price is expensive.

Mine is up too. http://judychow.blogspot.com/2008/02/photo-hunters-wooden.html

mama meji said...

It's really expensive. but I can understand why. It takes a lot of patience, hardwork and concentration - besides skill to carve. Happy PH.

WillThink4Wine said...

$100? Each? Yipes.

Pato & Pearl said...

I actually love walking along Chinatown. There's loads of interesting stuff but comes with a price too. And quite a tough load to bargain.... ;)

Happy Hunting! - Pearl

Lynn said...

Expensive yes but maybe worth all the sweat of the carver. But I'd take it for maybe 5USD. ;)

Smalltown RN said...

great choice for the hunt...I like that very much...and learn't something new....happy hunting..

Nita said...

Wow nice take on the theme. Have a happy weekend!

Bengbeng said...

i thought that kind of craftsmen would b obselete in Singapore by now :)

Lynn said...

Hi ECL, here's the link on how to get to Mount Purro. Hope you can visit, it's a nice hideaway.

KISSEDALOTATOADS said...

That is expensive! What do they say though? You know us americans can't read that. lol. Great gift idea though! (Now that gives me an idea,.... lol) Have a wonderful weekend.

Juliana RW said...

it is expensive because they made by hand. Nice job

Mine in here Have a nice weekend

picturing of life said...

Great choice for 'wooden' photo hunter theme...

Will you visit my “wooden“ Have a nice weekend

JC said...

Lovely work!

Cindy said...

They're very pretty, even if they are expensive.

the teach said...

eastcoast, you should tag anyone you want for Message in a Bottle. People are double and triple tagging...

I like those house signs. They would go over big where I live!

Dawn said...

Wow, that is so cool. It's definitely an art to carve them.

jenny said...

Lovely wooden pieces. I liek that you showed the craftsman as well.

Have a Nice Weekend!

JesieBlogJourney said...

Good idea as a house warming gift.
I see some family last names as the first word. What is the second word? Yes, it's so costly. Is the price fixed or we can bargain?
I am up from zzz and have my hunt ready this time. :)

marcia said...

Nice craftsmanship isn't I have some good work on mine today too,

Sue said...

Great choice for the hunt!!! :)

Judy said...

Hopefully this sort of art and talent will not be lost through generations.

Malaika's mummy said...

That's very expensive leh, crafting words only. DOnt know how is his biz though?

Utah Mommy said...

Wow lovely shots you have, very well done in photo hunting. Happy weekend!
MY LIFE MY WORLD
SWEET PARADISE

PastorMac's Ann said...

I would love to have a sign like that to hang in my home. Lovely. Great choice for The Hunt.

A. said...

Wow those are expensive, but admittedly they are lovely!

peppylady said...

It amazing to me on different crafters although I haven’t done much woodwork until now it always fascinated me.
But lot of craft interest me.
Mine up

kyh said...

really expensive! could get me 30 or more meals with that price!

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi eastcoastlife,

You have been tagged! Check out my blog for more details. Don't worry. I think you will like this one.

ian said...

i hope artisans like them will still thrive in these modern times... they're keepers of cultural heritage...

Haze said...

Those are amazing stuff!

oceanskies79 said...

I am thinking which part of Chinatown such shops are located.

Tokenhippygirl said...

Wow... not cheap, but very cool. Happy hunting!

diXymiss said...

It does seem eXpensive, yet I imagine much time is invested in hand-crafting each piece. Great piX for the theme! ThanX for providing the eXtra linky.

ghee said...

oh yeah,theyre cool!so cool!

happy weekend!
ghee

pelfy said...

Interesting. $100 is a little too expensive, but I think my Chinese name characters are worth the money (because the characters have so many strokes!!) Hahaha....

johnnykiu.com said...

It is nice plate!

Come and visit mine too
My wooden House
Wooden post

munak said...

mama san, long time no see. am in singapore, dropby my site and drop ur contact ok? :D or email to munaksss@yahoo.com

Dragonstar said...

Very beautiful, and they'd make lovely gifts.

Blessed Chic said...

Very beautiful yet expensive :)

RennyBA said...

At first when I saw the title of this post, I was afraid you where going to be married again and you did not asked me !??!?!?!? :lol:

Wonderful and well documented post with great pics - do they all go to the same party afterwords too?

Ritchiela said...

The characters look awesome though I can't read them.

thanks for sharing..

I got mine and its a wooden sculpture of Virgin Mary...http://www.ritchiela-anyi.com

AngelBaby said...

Wow! What a great idea for a present. They are really nice too. Thank you for sharing this.

I have something for you at my site.

Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby