Dividing the dome base

Custom work is demanding. In this post I will try to give some idea of what goes into finalizing a design to meet the customer’s expectations. Above, I am working on a mock-up of the markers or Muezzinler as they are known in Turkish, for a Fez Darqawi Green Dome Custom Misbaha. For this piece the customer had a very clear idea of what he wanted so the mock-up was essentially to ensure that my interpretation of his specifications was accurate.

Filing the facets into the dome base. This must be done carefully to preserve the geometry of the original architectural feature inspired by the Dome of the Prophet Muhammad may Allah bless him and give him peace.

Here is the finished mock-up in Olivewood. Ok, it does look a bit rough….but the point is to rapidly communicate the general idea to the customer so the actual work can begin. In this case is was approved straight away and off we went.

Markers and finials in genuine Lignum Vitae. In the above photo the joints that allow the captive rings to be included are visible. The Yellow material is solid Nubian Ram Horn, prior to color enhancement.

The polished markers, imama, and finials complete with green Nubian ram horn rings. The customer had specified that the finial cap for the counter finial should be left natural, which  does provide an interesting contrast on the finished piece.

 If you have an idea for a Custom Misbaha we would love to discuss it with you.

The tool here is made from an old file, re-forged, shaped and then hardened and tempered to achieve the proper hardness.The effect used here is a ‘v’ grove, which is fairly easy to engrave in negative but would be very difficult to actually carve the positive, or the result of the embossing in leather as in the following photo.

Another pattern, this time more complex engraving required to achieve the weaving effect of the design. A piece of beeswax is used as a proof of the engraving. This sort of engraving is very interesting because it is the absence of material that is sought after, not the material itself. The deeper we carve here, the higher the relief is on the embossing. It is like the riddle: “What is it, the more you take away from it, the bigger it gets?”  (a hole)And a sample of the embossed leather:

With an excited buzz in our brains and much warmth directed at our fingers by large heaters so we can type as fast as possible to tell you this, here are the contest winners!

Congratulations to…
1st place winner Erkan Sinan, of the Camel Ivory 10mm Ornate.
2nd place winner Parvez Khan, of the  Ya Hu Pendant.
3rd place winner Rachel Woodlock,  of the Divani Mashallah II.

And to all those who worked diligiantly for untold spaces of time to send in an entry, you get a 10% discount coupon to use at our website to express our heartfelt thanks. All contestants will be contacted via email.

To see our favourite entries, go to our Facebook page and make sure to like us to be the first to hear about our next contest.

Till next time, stay warm.

It is formed when sap oozes from a tree, pouring down to entrap insects, debris, feathers and other organic material; overtime and under the influence of heat and pressure, fossilising to become an object of high value.

Each amber stone containing organic material is a moment in time, perfectly captured, priceless to the science of paleogeography. The unfosslised specimans are helpful in constructing ecosystems and organisms of the ancient world, long gone. For this reason, pieces of amber containing complete specimens are rare and command a high price.

Amber is harvested at seas by hand, by diving or dredging. Ninety percent of amber is extracted from the ‘Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia on the Baltic Sea’*, although it can be found all over the world.

Insect in Amber Finial Cap

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber#Appearance
http://www.bernardine.com/gemstones/amber.htm

Here’s the contest – we’re very excited to announce it, we can barely keep from telling you how excited we are.

Your UNS Product Contest

Take a picture of your UNS product in use, in its daily life, in motion to get a have the chance to win one of three prizes!

We are looking for high quality pictures reflecting the role of the UNS product in your life or its significance to you. For example, you can take a picture of your misbaha on a colourful arrangment, or your perfume bottle in the sun, or a pendant hanging from your rearview mirror.

How to Enter:
1. Go to www.facebook.com/unsfinecrafts and Like our page.
2. Email your picture to uns@unsfinecrafts.com

Prizes:
1st place: Camel Ivory 10mm Ornate
2nd place: Ya Hu Pendant
3rd place: Divani Mashallah II

Contest Dates:
Start: January 2nd
End: January 25th
Winners Announced: by January 31st in Newsletter and on Facebook.

Conditions of Entry:
Each person may enter one picture only. It may be taken anywhere, in colour, black and white, sepia or using other camera effects, but must not include full shots of animals or people.

Images should not be highly digitalised or altered beyond standard optimisation of enhancing colour, lighting, removing dust or cropping.

Images will be judged based on the above criteria as well as originality, composition and overall impact. The judges will select the winner(s) based on their discretion and all decisions are final.

All contestants must be fans of the Uns Fine Crafts Facebook Page and be over 18 years of age. Any entries not meeting this criteria will be disqualified.  Any or all of the pictures will be uploaded to our Facebook page, and all contestants agree to the use of their pictures for promotinal purposes.

We don’t, because we don’t celebrate New Year.

The busy worker bees at UNS Fine Crafts do none of these things, our work doesn’t stop. That’s right, we’ve been working consistently, we worked through Christmas (altough we didn’t through last Eid), and we shall be working during the New Year’s break. Our think tank has been munching biscuits and drinking English Breakfast, while pressed up against the heater. The cat was a little bit neglected too. The hamster lounged in its cage; very little moves the hamster.

The result of which is a promise of a series of informative posts (we all of us like to be informed you see; that was our motivation), on the different materials used by the artist, Ibrahim Batchelder, to make his unique artistic products.

Starting with Amber.

(Also, stay tuned for many more surprises this year, including our Facebook contest to be announced in the next couple of days; be sure to Like us on Facebook to find out how you can win.)

I would like to share something beautiful that reminds me of Allah and his mercy and the blessings he has bestowed upon us in Islam and Iman. To share the happiness of feeling the honour of knowing the Prophet (pbuh) 1400 years after his lifetime and the blessing of being accepted into the fold of Islam by Allah, the most generous.

My Sandal Pendant always lights up the moment I see it. I imagine it does, and it does to me, because of the meanings it embues. My heart always expands with both love for the Prophet(pbuh) and the awarness that Allah sent me a small reminder at that very moment, to be thankful.

I also often marvel at our human intellect and the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon us in it. Looking at the pendant, I see the blessings of knowing how to apply heat to bend metals and to tranform a mental possibility into a physical reality. It makes me think of mathematics and the great Muslim mathematicians without which, we wouldn’t have our traditional Islamic art today; to appreciate its beauty and perfect harmony of symmetrical shapes and vivid colours bringing otherwise plain surfaces to life.

It reminds me to thank Allah for my wealth, however large or small, for my being in a blessed land, for having food, water and shelter and for having those to share it with. Most of all, my Sandal Pendant acts as a reminder to thank Allah for the blessing of having eyesight with which to see it all and intellect with which to percieve it.

I don’t have a pictures of my own, long loved pendant now, but here’s the one from the website.

What amazing discoveries have you made today? Do you have any inspirational thoughts to share with us? Feel free to leave a comment, no matter how long or short, and celebrate what makes you feel blessed today.

(If you like our posts, don’t forget to Like our posts )

Now, while you attempt to contain your bubbling excitment, I shall tell you a tale.

As you surely know, our most beloved Prophet Mohammed (many peace and blessings be upon him), was illitrate. So he had a ring made. This ring he used to stamp letters to foreign leaders. The Prophet (saaw), had the ring cast in silver but being so filled with love and reverence for Allah almighty, did not want to place his name over the name of Allah. Contrary to the normal way of reading from top to bottom, he had written upwards, “Muhammed Rasul Allah”.

The UNS Seal of the Prophet ring is based on this original seal. This seal is perfectly preserved and currently on display at the Topkapi Palace in Turkey, along with other barakah-filled relics of the holy Prophet (pbuh) such as his cloak and sword.

Here is a hadith about the seal:

Anas Ibn Malik said: “Rasulullah (pbuh) had a ring made of silver and its (inlaid) gem was also of silver. When the Prophet (pbuh) wanted to write to the leaders of foreign states, he ordered a seal-ring to be made. Rasullullah (saas) therefore had a ring made, the whiteness of which is still before my eyes. The inscription engraved on the ring of Rasulullah (pbuh) was ‘Muhammad Rasulullah,’ of which in the first line was engraved ‘Muhammad,’ in the second line ‘Rasul,’ and in the third line ‘Allah’.”*

What honour it would be for any of us to wear a likeness of what the Prophet (pbuh) wore on his very hand!

*Shama-il al Tirmidhi, Islamic Book Service Publications, New Delhi, 2001, p. 80-81.

Turning Amber on a Lathe

This effect can be seen above where the thin ribbons of Amber cling to the piece they came from and everything else.