For years, when
talking about shells of pearl oysters or shellfish, people used to think
of mother-of-pearl inlaid handicraft art articles. The shells of pearl
oysters are inlaid on wood to make paintings, cupboards, tables, chairs
and beds, which produce glittering and colourful hues, hence the products
are much sought after by customers.
However, young artisan Pham Xuan Cuong has his own idea. He
always ponders over the question, i.e. how to make utensils from this
material. “My family has made handicraft art articles from horns and bones
from generation to generation. Since I was a boy I knew how to use the
saw, which is as thin as a rice-seeding leaf and as small as a thread, to
make various souvenirs and objects. But the horn and bone materials become
exhausted whereas the shells of pearl oysters and shellfish are more
available. Especially, with the pearl oyster culture developing strongly
nation-wide, the material resource is very rich. Using my father’s tools
such as saws, sharpeners, drills, etc., I tried to make trays, ash-trays
and plates from the shells of pearl oysters and shellfish. It was
wonderful when seeing glittering colours from the plates that are both
popular and precious,” Cuong recalled.
He also added that the natural
appearance of pearl oysters’ shells gave him many new ideas, and he wanted
to verify his products, such as making buttons and hairclips for the
fashion industry. As soon as they were sold, his products are highly
appreciated by fashion designers. Although pearl oysters’ shell is not as
pliable as horn and tortoise-shell, its glittering enhances the beauty of
the costumes under the stage’s light.
“Making handicraft art articles
always requires the artisan’s creativeness,” Cuong said. By reading
foreign magazines and newspapers together with his experiences, he found
out the way to use a silver thread to connect pieces of mother-of-pearl
pieces into lovely rings, necklaces and bracelets.nbsp;
According to Cuong, making
handicraft art articles is different from mother-of-pearl inlaid articles
because it is necessary to maintain the thickness of the shell. To make a
beautiful product, the artisan must be meticulous and take painstaking
care of all stages, from sawing, cutting, drilling to polishing. If the
artisan is not good at any of these steps, the shell will be broken.
Finally, the product will not be completed if the silver thread can’t
connect well the shell pieces.
At present, Cuong’s workshop in
Ha Dong Town (Ha Tay Province) has more than 20 skilled artisans. Every
day, they produce hundreds of beautiful products not only to sell for
domestic and foreign tourists, but also to export to famous fashion firms
in France, Italy and Spain.
Making handicraft art articles
from shells of pearl oysters and other shellfish by young artisan Pham
Xuan Cuong helps enriching the variety of traditional handcrafts in
Vietnam.nbsp;
Story: Hoang Mai
