Monday, May 31, 2010

Macro Monday: Peach Pit Boat

It's Macro Monday! And here's my entry for the week:

Peach Pit Boat

Here's one from my archives. It's a little boat carved from a peach pit, purchased by my uncle when he served in the Korean War. There are several interesting things about it, aside from its size.

First of all, those windows actually swing open and closed. Secondly, there is something written on the underside in tiny, tiny characters. I suspect it is the story of the Eight Chinese Immortals sailing to a banquet, carrying the peaches of immortality.

And thirdly, this photo - MY photo - has been snagged and used all over the Internet. Go ahead. Google "peach pit carving" and see what you get. Some link back to my Flickr page, and I guess I'm OK with that though I would have appreciated a request or a credit. There was one place, though, that offered this item for sale! For $400! I wrote them about it and the site disappeared soon after, though I never got a reply.

I always thought I'd be flattered to have a photo good enough to be stolen. But it really doesn't feel so hot.

Anyway, here are a couple more shots that show the amazing carving and the relative size. And if you are coming in from Google and want to use any of these, PLEASE ASK?

CharactersPeach Pit Carving

14 comments:

Kala said...

This is very interesting - cannot believe someone could carve that from a peach pit.

Oh, and people using your image and giving you no credit - total copyright infringement! But all too common the Internet.

Heather! said...

WOW!! What an amazing treasure! The photos themselves are great, and the carving is incredible. The windows OPEN?! Yowza!!

So cool...thanks for sharing! I've never seen anything quite like it.

agreenearth said...

What beautiful treasures, created with such skill and detail.

Victoria said...

Wow...lovely..Fascinating and so gorgeous..wonderful photos! Aww..I am sorry this happens to you..i wish people would respect and value others art/creatvity and craft/photos/property......it truly is maddening. No fair!!
Gorgeous photo!
And hey...thankyou so much..for such super lovely comments you leave for me..you are a shining star!
Have a magical day!
Kiki~

Gel said...

Hello!

Fascinating post from the history of this carving to the photos. Shame on whoever stole your photo.Happy Macro Mon!

Sarah said...

Hi!
You are right, I should ask him to teach me bonsai!
I love your little boat, for its story and beauty. It is amazing that they made the doors actually open.
Interesting that nobody asked you too and to actually offer it for sale! You should look into haow to do a water mark and then at least it couldn't be used again.

lifeshighway said...

Absolutely amazing. Maybe you should start watermarking your photos. Just put a small tag in one of the corners. There are so many amateurs and newbies on the internet, a lot of them do not mean harm. Although the $400 guy, that was just wrong.

chasity said...

those little carvings are incredible.
that just blows me away!

Daryl said...

Now I begin to understand why some blogger put their logo in huge type across the image ... how did you learn it was stolen? I am seeing that this is happening more and more ... nasty

Fabulous shot and I cant imagine the patience it took to carve that

MyMaracas said...

Hi - I learned it was stolen when I found it had 195 views on it at Flickr, which is huge for me. It didn't take long to find it on the Web via Google.

I've considered watermarking, but didn't feel I needed to - who'd bother to steal my modest little snaps? - and besides it ruins the looks of the photos. But I guess that's the point, and now I understand why people do it.

Unknown said...

Amazing! I can not imagine trying to create that!

What Karen Sees said...

This truly is a wonderful and amazing piece, and your photography really does it justice. It really is hard to know how and if to protect one's photos. Some like to use 'creative commons' license (I think that's what it's called), and enjoy seeing their work all over the net because it gives them exposure as an artist. You are not, however, supposed to use images for commercial purposes. I also go back and forth with whether to watermark my images. I don't because I also think it is distracting.

Suburban Girl said...

I would have never guessed a peach pit, but once said then I saw it. Great macro subject.

Rambling Woods said...

That is amazing...I don't know if any of my photos are good enough to be taken.....glad you found it..Michelle