Introducing... the Bamboo Schooner - "too weird to leave behind"

Back in March my girl and I made a trip to Pennsylvania in which we stopped at some antique stores out in the Pittsburgh suburb of Canonsburg. While seeking tiki, I stumbled upon something that we had to find out a price on, for it was not tagged. The cashier at the desk volunteered to call the booth owner for a price - and came back with the exact number I had in my head. While checking out, the only phrase that came to mind to describe the item and my love of it to the cashier was, "it's too weird to leave behind."

Introducing... the Bamboo Schooner!

The main body and "sails" are made from bamboo. The large round orbs are infested with actual marbles, and the rigging is quite ornate:

Here's a comparison in height to your basic orange tabby (boat is taller):

And now... the best part: it lights up!

The orbs light up and the light shines through the marbles:

Here's an upward view from the "deck" up the rigging:

Watch out for the scary animal head coming at ya!

The Bamboo Schooner will eat you alive!!!

Have never seen anything like it - anyone have any experience with such a vessel? My guess is it's a home creation, but out of such odd items as bamboo and marbles and string... not to mention the lighting elements as well. This piece is definitely suggesting a name for the home tiki bar I hope to put together someday -- whenever we stop renting!

Best,
Rupe

"Rum will be absolutely necessary to get through this night"
--Hunter S. Thompson in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'

[ Edited by: rupe33 2007-06-01 16:37 ]

Absolutely stunning!!! What a great find!

Pretty Fabulous - And it's a lamp?!

Were you able to find any artist markings on it?

HOLY MACKERAL!!!!!!!
Aloha,
:tiki:

Oh yes, that is way more nicer than the bizarre doohinky I found at the thrift store! (ladies high heel shoe, encrusted with shell macaroni, spray painted gold, and filled with plastic flowers). Yours lights up, which is in a different class entirely.

Could we ever unravel the thought processes behind some of these home made creations? Should we even try?

It is weird...but I love it..

Pretty wild indeed. I love the way it looks lit up. :)

Awesome find. Absolutely bizarre and intriguing. And it looks so cool all lit up too. Nice score

That is fabulous! It reminds me of some of the ceramic/marbles lamps my grandma used to make. Great find!

amazing mysterious find !

what number did you have in your head ??

On 2007-06-01 13:28, rupe33 wrote:
... The cashier at the desk volunteered to call the booth owner for a price - and came back with the exact number I had in my head.
...

...

Rupe33,

That is quite an interesting find that you have there! It may have been, in fact, fate that has brought that item to you! You see, that ship is symbolic of a Wealth Ship that is utilized by many Asian homes & businesses and is always shown in homes that practice Feng Shui. My wife is a practicing student of Lillian Too's Feng Shui teachings and here is a bit of info for you on your 'find':

In both Feng Shui and Asian Folklore, a sailing ship is rated second to the dragon as the most popular symbol of prosperity. The symbolism of the sails catching the wind is very good luck. The sailing ship is probably one of the best Feng Shui enhancers to have in your office and home if you want to increase your personal wealth, especially if you are an aspiring entrepreneur or business person. Since having a dragon in itself is very good luck, combining the dragon along with a sailing ship is 'doubly' auspicious! Traditionally, wealth ships are shown with gold ingots, coins, real money, or anything that symbolizes a bright, wealthy future, including precious stones (thus the light-up marbles symbolizing bright, wealthy "precious stones"). The idea is to suggest a ship loaded with rich and abundant cargo. Wealth ships should never be the kind of ship that has cannons or guns, but rather a cargo ship full of wealthy cargo. An additional auspicious addition is if the ship is made with the least amount of nails, preferably with none at all!

Be sure to place this ship either at the inside of your front door, or inside the front door of your office (or home office), and most importantly face the ship IN towards the room, never outward towards the door! This ensures wealth & abundance into your home rather than money going "out". (Sidenote: those of you that have the carved, framed Witco ships can do the same thing, just add symbolic Asian coins, gold coins, stones or anything symbolizing wealth).

I hope this helps you. Check the wiring, and light that baby up! As I say to shopkeepers of antique stores when they ask me "Can I help you find anything?". I tell them "No thanks, I'll let it find me". It found you, so utilize this find!

SCD

Oooohhh! Ilove learning stuff like this! So cool.

This explains be why there's the Dragon-like face on the bow...

On 2007-06-01 13:28, rupe33 wrote:

Watch out for the scary animal head coming at ya!

The Bamboo Schooner will eat you alive!!!

That's an Awesome find!

Re: the price I had in mind was $100, and I figured I could talk it down to $80. That being said, the price that came from the seller was $80, so that was a done deal right there!

SugarCaddyDaddy -- thanks so much for the feng shui post!! That makes it even more intriguing to me. Currently we don't have a final place for its display, so in the interim location I've turned it to face into the house. Not that it wasn't facing that way already (it was actually pointing to the bar area!), but have pointed it even more inwards based upon your posting. A brilliant addition to the mystery of it all.

Am pretty sure there are no marks on the bottom - although I shall double-check again and will post if I find something.

Mahalo to all for your kind words and info!

Cheers,
Rupe

sweet, rupe!

"annoying ego blather" (tip o' th' pin to bill griffith):

[ Edited by: Johnny Dollar 2007-06-05 13:05 ]