Wooden Excavator Showpiece

About this piece

Wooden Excavator Showpiece — A sheesham digger with a jointed arm that moves. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and plainly polished, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. It measures about 10 in long. It costs PKR 2,200. It is ready to ship and delivered within 3 to 4 days anywhere in Pakistan, paid in cash on delivery.

A model excavator in solid sheesham — a cab on a flat base, four turned wheels, and a jointed arm with a bucket on the end that swings up and down on wooden pins. The arm is the point: it holds the position you leave it in, so the piece looks different on a shelf each time somebody moves it. Cab, boom and bucket are each cut and shaped by hand and fitted together with turned pins rather than metal hinges. Because it is solid wood throughout with no paint over it, the grain runs across the cab and the base, and every piece comes out a little different. It suits a desk, a shelf or an office — a contractor's table, an engineer's study — and it is an unusual gift for anyone in construction, or for a child old enough to handle it with care. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha, and worked individually. Dust with a soft dry cloth, move the arm gently rather than forcing it, and keep it away from water and out of direct sunlight.

Every piece is made by hand, so the wood grain, carving and colour vary a little from the photo. That variation is normal and is what makes each one its own.