Luxury Woods in Cambodia

Wooden Shrines for the Home

16 March 2014

Every culture has its own indicators for "making it" in life, i.e., being comfortable, having enough money for some luxuries, being able to show off a bit. In Cambodia, a lot of that centers around the use of the luxury woods that Cambodia is blessed with--and is rapidly losing due to the illegal logging by government officials protected by the military. One symbol of having arrived is having a large wooden shrine for the ancestral spirits in the home--made, of course, of the most expensive luxury woods. Here are some samples of the shrines made for private homes and businesses.

These shrines are all in the same style but they vary according to the Chinese sayings carved into the background of each. Notice that the Chinese characters on each shrine are different.

Some of the shrines require a great deal of workmanship and skill. They are expensive because of the woods used but they also require highly skilled woodcarvers to produce the best and most valued results.

These shrines represent the two most common styles. The proprietor represents the normal work posture for the families running these shops selling heavy wooden luxury wood items. They don't get that much traffic and there's not a lot to do all day.

Here a workman uses hand and power tools to do the intricate carving required for the Chinese characters and for the figures from Chinese mythology.

This little girl is minding her family's shop. The shrines here are set up on a large wooden platform that is another staple in most Cambodian homes--an all purpose platform for sitting and chatting, for eating, for napping and sleeping--or for anything else that you might not want to do in the dirt.

Another proprietor shoots the breeze with a friend while he waits for customers.

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