Global Crafts
Hand-Painted Embossed Elephant Wind Chimes Made from Recycled Iron
Hand-Painted Embossed Elephant Wind Chimes Made from Recycled Iron
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The elephant chime is handcrafted from recycled iron, hand embossed, and painted with an antique copper finish and colorful accents. This chime works well indoors as art or outdoors as a garden chime. Elephant trunks pointed upward are thought to dispense energy, luck, and prosperity!
Handmade by artisans at a family workshop in Behat, India, the metal smithing craft has been passed down from one generation to the next. The workshop was established in 1976 and employs the artisan family and well-trained artisans from the area.
Product Features:
- Type: Wall Art or Garden Chime.
- Colors: rustic copper finish with handpainted red, green, and gold accents.
- Materials: Recycled iron and jute string.
- Lacquer finish, lead-free.
- Dimensions: Approx. 11 inches from top to bottom and 5 inches wide.
- Cone Bells are approximately 2.25 inches tall and just under 1 inch at the base.
- The chains measure approximately 5.75 inches to the bottom of the bell.
- A Jute string loop for hanging measures approximately 6 inches.
- Indoor/Outdoor.
Story Behind the Art:
The workshop buys sheets of scrap metal from dealers who collect it door-to-door. But don’t let that make you doubt the quality of their handicrafts; they ensure the scrap comes from acceptable material and transforms the trash into beautiful art. The artisans specialize in a particular type of finishing known as “Rasai”. This is when a layer of brass is added onto the wrought iron to give the products a rustic and crude appearance.
Due to the handmade nature, slight variations in size, color, shape, pattern, or other characteristics may be evident. Each piece is truly a unique work of art, lovingly crafted by hand.
About the Artisans
About the Artisans
Marisol Medina used her creativity and love for animals to craft handmade wildlife creatures. She began her work with wire and cotton in Tabio, a small village 60kms from Bogotá in Colombia. Starting with readily available raw materials, and struggling through various challenges typical of a small business/enterprise, Marisol soon enhanced her techniques and the business as the demand for the product grew in the market. She began with participating at the annual national fair which takes place in Bogotá once every year. This is where Marisol was introduced to her first set of wholesale and retail clients.
Because of insufficient orders and a slow business, her workshop initially supported the artisans only for about 3 months. Piel Acida, a Bogotá-based organization that works with artisans from all over Colombia, showed keen interest in supporting Marisol’s cotton and wire animal enterprise. They provided support in all aspects to Marisol and her team. These products have been displayed and sold at various international trade shows such as the ones in New York and Frankfurt.
Marisol’s enterprise has meant much more than the enhancement of her skill and business – it has been a steady source of income for tens of artisans from the Tabio countryside. Thanks to organizations like Piel Acida, these artisans now have a consistent source of income and they also feel a distinct sense of empowerment.
Marisol is happy to see the growth of her small artistic talent into an enterprise. The Tabio Mountains have transformed her from an ordinary employee at a plastic factory to an independent entrepreneur. Today, her little workshop and the women involved have a brighter future.
Materials
Materials
Dimensions
Dimensions
Care information
Care information
