Teak Panels
Our export Teak Panels are made of planted Teakwood which is grown in plentiful teak gardens in Northern Thailand. The quality Teak Panels from Chiang Mai, Thailand are hand carved in magnificent designs, colors, patterns and sizes. These extraordinary Teak Panel models are produced to suit different purposes for both exterior and interior usages.
Chiang Mai is well-known as handcrafted production center of Thailand. Several wooden artisans who live in neighboring communities are working together on wooden crafts to create the beautiful pieces of carving Teak Panel. The design and style of each carved Teak Panel is particular because of its original wood type and texture. Therefore the sense of wooden touch is added to handmade Teak Panels. This can bring natural visual perception to people who have seen such precious wood carving artworks.
Our wholesale Teak Panels are detailed handmade artworks by skillful carving artisans. They presented the elegant handicraft characters through the well designed wood carving boards. According to each handcrafted Teak Panel has an original tone of nature, please note that the knots, marks or tiny cracks on Teak Panel’s texture are natural features of this remarkable handcrafted artworks. When the Teak Panels are exported to your destination, please let the wooden panels settle and adjust themselves to the circumstance where there are located.
Several wood carving villages in Northern Thailand are popular for production of fine handcrafted Teak Panels. Chiang Mai, as the trading and commercial center of Northern Thailand, is the excellent landmark to manufacture good quality of hand carved Teak Panels at wholesale volume. Monkeypod Asia is please to recommend the premium handmade Teak Panels at fair price to our wholesale customers in overseas.
Teakwood Facts
Teakwood has been considered as an economical and valuable wood according to its premium quality. It is the high demand wood which is needed by many countries global wide. Teakwood has multi-purpose of usage i.e. building house, producing furniture and making durable and long lasting wooden items in different realms of people’s living. For house construction, every part of it can be built from teakwood, from the lower ground floor column up to the rooftop, including the house tiles. The roof tiles and other housing parts can be made of teakwood since it is greatly durable, and resisting to sunlight and rain. In addition, teakwood is termite free.
Teakwood is delicate in texture and can be easily crafted. It has splendid color with very long period of usage. Even though its life span is more than 400 years, this solid wood will still be in good condition. In accordance with these characters, wood carvers prefer to use teakwood to make beautiful carved Teak Panels for several purposes of decoration. Recently, many luxury houses and Buddhist temples in northern Thailand are decorated with carve Teak Panels.
Teak’s botanical name is Tectona grandis or Sakka in Sanskit traditional name. The commercial name of Teak has come from Teca which refers to “Carpenter’s Sweetheart”. It is claimed that Western market much prefers teakwood and they found that the quality of teakwood from Thailand is the best. Teak expert and teak gardener, in accordance with forest village planting system, who is accepted by forestry scholars worldwide, has revealed relevant information about Thai teakwood as below.
“Regarding Teakwood trading, Myanmar and Indonesia are the competitors of Thailand. Much in evidence, 25% of Myanmar’s cut teakwood is gold teak, while 75% of Thailand’s cut teakwood is gold teak. Indonesia’s teakwood is lower by its quality, because of the short timber, dusky wood color and less of beauty. Therefore sales price of Myanmar and Indonesian teakwood in overseas market is 30-40% less than Thai teakwood”. This data has displayed that teakwood from Thailand is much better with premium quality and it is very competing in global market.
Teak Carving Art
Teak Panel is regarded as the two-dimension (2D) carving art which is unique and stylish in itself. The wood carving method is to remove the exceeded part. The carved part which is remained on the Teak Panel is a glorious work of art. Teak Panel expresses character and craftsmanship of Thai culture. Teak Panel is considered to be one of major cultural handcrafted products of Thailand. The carved wooden artworks are normally acknowledged by the Thai government because they are classified by the Department of Art, Ministry of Culture. As same as the gorgeous Teakwood Panels, each hand carved pattern indicates the cultural characters of the magnificent carving artwork.
The varieties of cultural artwork are adopted into wood carving arts by professional artisans in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Teak Panel is one of a kind. Time after time, we find that Teak Panels have been created in different figures, patterns, and sizes. They are often adapted from precious lotus flowers on Buddha image’s base, detailed carving doors and windows of Buddhist temple or luxury wooden house, ancient elephant’s head, cultural carving walls, and the wooden carved models which express Thai people’s folklore. Therefore these kinds of woodcarving design are modified into beautiful Teak Panels by the skillful artisans.
We normally find the carving Teak Panels in villages of craftsmen in Northern of Thailand. As local art, villagers make varieties of usage from the Teakwood. After farming and harvesting seasons in agricultural villages of Thailand, it is time when famers take a break from long period of work in the fields. Local villagers take this chance to spend time working with carved Teakwood objects for household usage or decoration. Of course the Teakwood Panels is one of their favorite carving artworks on their leisure time.
Symbolic Teak Carvings
People in Thailand regard Buddhism as main religion for couple centuries. They usually respect Buddha’s thought as principle of their living nationwide. In particular, Thai people in Lanna kingdom, ancient name of Northern Thailand area where Chiang Mai is the center of its location, people have adopted Buddhism into different aspects of their folkway i.e. using every item worthily in daily life, and calmly and steadily working. Buddhist art is not only modified into local works of art by design, but also by principle of work and living. Local artisans also follow this philosophy when they make such marvelous carving Teak Panels.
Skillful wood carvers occasionally use Bodhi Tree to draft their Teak Panels. Bodhi tree is regarded by Buddhists as the “Tree of Awakening” because it was a landmark where Lord Buddha achieved his enlightenment after the 49 days of in-depth meditation under this particular tree. So far Teak Panel in Bodhi tree figure is often stand for “wisdom and peace”.
In addition, local artisans in Chiang Mai regularly design Teak Panels with pattern of glorious Lotus Flower. Lotus flower is recognized amidst Buddhists as one of propitious symbols of religion. By the step of growing, Lotus’s root spreads in the mud, its stem extends throughout water, and the flower finally blooms over surface of water. Buddhist people believe that such form of growing represents process of a soul being improved from initial mud of materialism through experimental water then the soul finally reaches brilliant sunshine of enlightenment. Therefore carving artisans apply lotus flower image into Teak Panel’s model to represent symbols of “Faith, Purity and Spontaneity”.
Figure of Flame is another famous design of Teak Panel for local wood carvers in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Fire Element represents great power of forging will and strong resolution. Moreover, flame can stand for human’s inner light of living. Flame also acts for the divine fire, burning in everyone’s soul. This is why the spiritual symbol of Flame is normally used in design of Teakwood Panels.
All in all, Elephant design is also popular for skillful wood carvers since it has been an iconic animal of Thailand for very long time. Since ancient time, huge size and powerful strength of elephant are used in different methods such as pulling and transporting logs from forest to the town. Elephant has also been acknowledged for its cleverness, memory and attractive nature. At the moment, White Elephant figure is added in flag of the Royal Thai Navy. Therefore “Intelligent, Enduring, Honor and Strong characters” can be represented through the symbolic elephant on Teak Panels.
Teakwood Carving Process
Carving Teak Panel’s manufacturing process initiates by cutting Teakwood into appropriate shape and size to suit various designs of Teak Panel. Teakwood professionals use their punctilious attempt to select the proper panel for each Teak wood since it requires particular piece to create the magnificent handcrafted Teak Panels.
Accordingly, skillful artisans draw the design of Teak Panel’s pattern on paper. After that, a drafted idea on paper will be copied on the wood panel. Then the real process of producing Teak Panels is about to begin. Wood carvers choose proper Teakwood which is kept in special dried room for several months. Now the cut panel turns to be perfect size of wood panel. When the neat panels of Teak wood are ready for carving, artisans work on copied patterns of each blank wood panel by their hands to design marvelous artworks.
Wood carving requires detailed and complicated techniques. The handmade Teak Panels need to be originated by carving professionals. By hands of expertise carvers, artisans use specific carving tools and knives to create suitable shapes and dimensions to complete the perfect Teak Panels. Step by step, skillful wood carvers follow the draft line in specific way to create smooth and neat Teak Panels. Then the initial finished carving panels come out in natural wood version.
After such complicated carving process, other artisans will work on each Teakwood carving panel by hands. They sand and chisel away the exceeding marks and ridges on the carved Teakwood panel. Then the next artisans will even out each carving’s surface then make it comes up with a smooth finishing. Eventually, each artistic hand carved Teakwood panel is stored in dry and area. Now the glorious Teak Panel is close to the final process.
Last but not least, Teak Panels will be treated in several ways i.e. color painting in several shades, clear or brown waxing (this is the most popular treat), or staining with different techniques. Local artisans then let the Teak Panels dry and settle themselves for couple days. They then decorate these Teak Panel artworks by polishing them in the nice and clean looks. This will help to keep them last in good conditions in very long term. Finally, each Teak Panel has to pass quality check before it is carefully packed and exported to our wholesale customers worldwide.
