Ricky and Elisabeth’s travels took them to the beautiful country of Laos. Laos has a rich cultural history being surrounded by several other countries (China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma). This rich and unique culture drew the owners of The Rustic Gallery to look for new pieces to add to their eclectic collection while immersing themselves in a new culture.
While The Rustic Gallery has a vast selection of furniture and home decor, they also offer unique artwork and even jewelry. It was on their recent journey to Laos that they found these beautiful, one-of-a-kind necklaces in old silver, or what they call ‘tribal silver’. Tribal silver is composed of 70% silver and 30% other metals.
After much deliberation, their top-eight, favorite tribal necklaces were carefully selected to bring back to The Rustic Gallery, and it was a well received. In one swoop, they were all gone! A customer that came into the store knew and fully appreciated what those pieces represented and how rare they are to find, so she bought them all. We are happy to say that they are truly, unique pieces that can be passed on from generation to generation. They sold so quickly that Ricky and Elisabeth didn’t even get a chance to take photos of them, but you can see a beautiful example of one below.
Amongst other things that Elisabeth and Ricky brought back were Buddhist altar sweepers. These handmade brooms are made of water buffalo hair and bones. Water buffalo are an important resource to Laos and are used for their meat, hides and milk. They are also commonly used for plowing and even transportation. These altar sweepers are just another tool the people of Laos have created utilizing the resources they have available to them.
On a comical side note: As the transaction for the items was taking place, Ricky snapped a picture of Elisabeth with the store owner and that’s when they realized the place was called ‘Rustic Gallery’ too! It was truly meant to be!
Laos is in a region where Buddhism is the primary religion, so it’s common for people to decorate their homes with these intricately carved, wooden buddha displays. In this photo, Elisabeth is pointing at her favorite one.
There are various tribal groups established throughout the country of Laos. These portraits oil paintings of young Hmong women are from a tribe found in Laos and Vietnam. These particular oil paintings were purchased from the same vendor as shown in the photos above.
Other items imported from Laos were old silver incense burners as well as antique silver sculptures that range between 80 and 150 years old. It is common for every home to have an buddhist altar where incense is burned. These incense burners and statues are made of “old silver” which is a lower grade of silver, but is still considered a silver item.
Stop by to see these these new pieces for yourself before they’re gone! Not only are they all beautiful, but a great conversation piece to adorn your home.
