The Alien's Vessel — Walnut & Hornbeam
The Alien's Vessel — Edgar Hovhannisyan's own name for this extraordinary box — is assembled from many small interlocking pieces of walnut and hornbeam, accented with copper leaf and finished in clear varnish. The lid lifts away to a royal-blue velvet interior holding Edgar's carved maker's medallion. The vessel measures 30 × 19 × 15 cm (about 12" × 7½" × 6").
"I called this box The Alien's Vessel. Everything is made by hand! It is made of many small pieces. I am self-taught — I don't know what this style of work is called. For this work I used walnut and hornbeam. I used copper leaf and covered the whole work with varnish."
— Edgar Hovhannisyan
Watch Edgar carve it in the video at the end of the gallery. A one-of-a-kind work — no two carvings are ever alike. From the Fine Art Carvings collection.