Carvings of domestic tranquility
When I recently visited my parents, I noticed on the living room wall two carvings that had been on the wall of the home I lived in as an early elementary school aged child. Both carvings were made without a solid background so there are spaces where the wall shows through to good aesthetic effect.
One carving is of an old-fashioned rocking chair with fabric draped over the back of it. In the seat of the char is a bowl holding balls of yarn into which knitting needles are stuck. The chair rests on an oval-shaped braided rug. In front of the chair and also on the rug is a sleeping cat. The cat appears to me to be disproportionately large.
The other carving is of an old-fashioned spinning wheel on top of a similar oval-shaped braided rug.
I was struck by how these carvings convey a sense of domestic tranquility. In my opinion, the carvings are powerful because they represent the historical importance of home. Although long since displaced by the sewing machine, a spinning wheel symbolizes the domestic economy that was historically vital. The chair draped with fabric and yarn carries similar connotations while the sleeping cat is emblematic of the sort of contentment found in the security and privacy of home.
Looking at the back of the carvings, I saw that Burwood Products made them. When I got back to my own home – and computer – I looked up that company. I found the carvings I admire pictured at http://cgi.ebay.com/1965-BURWOOD-Products-Knitting-Sewing-WALL-HANGINGS_W0QQitemZ290123979175QQihZ019QQcategoryZ38238QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem.
Readers, do they convey the sense of domestic tranquility to you that they do to me?
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