Meet the Happy Wooden Monk, a sculpture with a walking stick created from a single piece of burl wood (a tree’s bud tissue). Sporting sterling silver embellishments with jade studs, it is the creation of master craftsman, Rolf von Bueren, the heart and brain behind Lotus Arts de Vivre, a Bangkok-based handmade jewellery, objets d’art and home décor brand.
The monk was the highlight of Tales of Asia, an exhibition at the Craft, Design and Art Intervention at Apparao Galleries in Chennai earlier this week. It was showcased alongside other exquisite objects, ranging from a carved-shell gravy bowl to an ebony-wood peacock sculpture and Muro earrings with pink tourmaline and diamonds.
Like the monk, the Muro earrings too are a 2 am creation, says the master. “I wake up to jot down these ideas and then let them marinate in my brain. The next day, the design takes shape naturally,” he says, while sharing his creative process over the last 40 years.
Asia has always been an inspiration for him and this exhibition has been specially curated by Bueren’s family-run Lotus Art de Vivre and Mumbai-based Heeramaneck & Son for the gallery. The two brands go back 35 years in their association. “Our common love for art, and abomination for over-the-top brand-building exercises made us join hands and grow together to be able to open a showroom in Mumbai eight years ago,” says Mehernosh Heeramaneck, partner at the fine diamond jewellery brand. Both agree that exquisite workmanship and resisting the urge to expand mindlessly, while maintaining
a loyal and elite clientele, have been the secrets of their success.
Lotus Arts de Vivre began as a hobby of Bueren and his wife Helen in Bangkok nearly four decades ago, when their sons left home to study abroad. Since then, the company has emerged to become a global brand known for its unique creations using natural materials— seeds, claws, nuts, coconut shells, scarab wings and even sting ray leather. Today, their boutiques are located in luxury hotels and famous jewellery stores such as Fred Leighton and Greenleaf & Crosby.
Keeping in line with the curated creations, Heeramaneck displayed its jewellery studded with rose-cut diamonds and Zambian emeralds. “Chennaiites are jewellery connoisseurs, so we specially brought in a rare pair of earrings made of oval Columbian emerald cabochon (a gemstone) surrounded by natural Mozambique rubies,” Mehernosh says.