Artisan Dang Hong Diem (64 years old, residing in Hung Loi ward, Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho city) has "turned" dry coconuts into elaborate, beautiful works of art, increasing their value hundreds of times.
Using dry coconut shells to hold teapots to keep warm has become a familiar practice for hundreds of years among Southern people. Smooth coconut shells, hot, fragrant teapots are "specialties" for Southern people to entertain guests. With the desire to preserve that fragrant feature, but the coconut shells must be more artistic and elaborate, Mr. Diem has created fascinating sculptures.
In a small room with teapot shells to keep warm made of coconuts, meticulously carved with dragons, phoenixes, and blooming lotus flowers, extremely unique. Sitting on a chair, diligently carving each line on the coconut shell, Mr. Diem said that he had a chance to become a sculptor since 1983. Thanks to his diligence in learning, after only 3 months he started working and found a teacher to continue learning more about painting.
He started making products from dried coconuts to sell on the market. “In the past, our ancestors often used coconut shells to warm teapots. Tea must be drunk hot if it is to be delicious. At that time, thermoses were rare and extremely expensive, so the poor used coconut shells to keep the heat, so that time was also the golden age of dried coconut shells. Every year, I sell over 200 products, but it was still not enough to meet the market demand.”
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| Mr. Diem passionately sculpts dried coconut shells. (Photo: Ngọc Trinh). |
Making a thermos bottle requires meticulousness in every step, from finding a satisfactory source of dry coconuts to order, then selecting them to choose a round, large-shelled dry coconut (usually a coconut with brown skin), with three even bottom edges. In particular, you have to wait until the coconut is plump because then the coconut reaches the standard hardness so that when the product is crafted and finished, it can be used for a long time, without being dented or damaged.
Use a saw blade to cut a circle, the top three parts are the lid, the bottom seven parts are the body used for the ceramic thermos, then use a saw to cut the small part to make the lid and the large part to make the bottom straight so that when the thermos is placed, it does not tilt. This is the most important step, if you cut it wrong, the whole coconut will be ruined. Next, use a sharp knife to remove the coconut meat, chisel out the coconut shell inside so that it fits the available teapot width, for small-sized pots, it is 0.3 - 1 liter. Keep a part of the shell inside the shell so that the dry shell does not crack. As for the handle on the lid, choose young coconuts, cut out the knob, punch a hole in the middle of the lid and glue it.
The step of meticulously sketching the image on the bottle shell with watercolor. Depending on each product, there will be different images, but usually the most popular images are dragons and phoenixes, two dragons competing for a pearl, lotus flowers, etc. The carving tool is a small knife, invented by Mr. Diem for sculpting. After sketching the image, he proceeds to carve each primer line and press the shallow or deep lines to highlight each line of detail. The difficult point here is that the carver must move the knife blade very gently so as not to collapse the coconut shell, and must calculate to adjust so that the blade just touches the bottom of the shell. Finally, varnish oil is applied, colored and PU is applied to the surface of the shell to make it shiny and hard, so the inside of the shell does not need to be covered with cloth to keep the tea warm, like the tea pot shell products in Ben Tre.
“Like the dragon and phoenix vase, how must the image on the shell be carved so that it truly has a soul? When the buyer looks at it, they will feel each line showing the majesty of the dragon. The clouds on the vase are also carved in many layers to create authenticity for the product. As for the lotus-shaped vase shell, the elaborate work is to carve many layers in the form of a relief to create the depth of the lotus leaves and lotus mirror,” said Mr. Diem.
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| Dried coconuts are elevated in value by hundreds of times through Mr. Diem's sculpting hands. (Photo: Ngọc Trinh). |
Typically, it takes about 4 to 7 days to complete a finished product. Currently, Mr. Diem exports around 100 pieces per year to international markets, with prices ranging from 600,000 to 1.2 million VND, depending on the intricacy of the carvings on the shell.
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| A dried coconut carved with intricate dragon and phoenix designs. (Photo: Ngọc Trinh). |
A water bottle placed inside a coconut shell retains warmth for half a day. Although simple, it holds great value both in terms of culinary use and the cultural beauty of the people in the Mekong Delta. Currently, Mr. Diem has also created bamboo lamps and bas-reliefs on dried coconuts, which are highly appreciated by many people.
