Saturday, June 5, 2010

Sa'ipan Sinahi




The above Hima was found right here in Sa'ipan. When age has not deteriorated the surface area, one will notice a striation of red lines on the surface of the Bear Paw Giant Clams illustrated here. This is the same Bear Paw Giant Clam I had posted earlier with the indication of carving another Sinahi from it; the Sinahi from which this will be carved; was found in a long forgotten Ancient Chamorro Village. That is why all Sinahi carved from the Bear Paw clam found in an Ancient Chamorro Village will not be available for sale.






Same Bear Paw Giant Clam as above at a different angle.





The same Bear Paw Giant Clam; however, I had already cut and prepared this hima. As you can see, the outside appears deteriorated but the inside retains its natural color and grains.




I've cut out the blank Sinahi from one sliced piece as illustrated above.




A close-up view of the same Giant Clams and Sinahi.





This is how it looks like at its early stage of the carving.






I've started the time consuming carving of the Sinahi. One must note that Sinahi carving requires one's patience; this is because sinahi carving can be both tedious and labor intensive.





Patiently carving the sinahi piece I've cut from the Bear Paw Giant Clam.





Same thing that's happening above, is happening here. That is carving and carving and carving...






Different carving stage of the Sinahi.







Wow, it really is coming along isn't it. This is the top view of the Sinahi.





This is the bottom view.




Front view....this sinahi is not done; I will be posting the finished product one of these days.


Saina Ma'ase

FIGO




5 comments:

  1. Cool man! Thanks for posting these pics. I have always wanted to see the process of making a sinahi. Interesting that the old hima shells still look fresh in the inside.

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  2. You blog as great. Can I make a request though? When you take pictures of the shells and the jewelry, can you put either a ruler, or a pen, or a coin in the photo so that readers can get a better sense of the size?

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  3. I'll keep that in mind. Saina Ma'ase for the suggestion.

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