Cindythings Chrystal Dunninger Museum Page 9

This is an interestingly exotic piece. Three brass bells on a shiny, twisted pale orange cord that may have been brighter originally. The bells' tops are each engraved with a leaf or grass design and they make a very pretty sound, very much like glass wind chimes. I'm convinced they're Indian String Bells because they still make and sell them just like this, and that's what they call them. You're supposed to hang them where you'll walk by and set them ringing pleasantly. The new ones come on very bright string cords. About 20 inches / 52 cm long. The bells range from just under 2 inches / 4 1/2 cm diameter for the largest, to 1 3/4 inches / 3 1/2 cm diameter for the smallest. The clappers are crude rings of brass with holes, hanging on metal wire.

I really like this piece, a carved wooden camel with a painted red saddle with dark teal blue spots and delicate white serpentine and leaf accents. He stands 4 inches / 10 cm tall, and about 4 1/2 inches / 11 cm long. The wood is unlaquered. The neck and head seems to be a separate piece fitted onto the body. He's very nicely carved, attractive from every angle, and he's nice to hold, a weighty little guy. He has a great camely face, too. I'm thinking he came from the Holy Land. If I'd seen him on a trip, I'd have bought him, too.

This is a wooden box stamped Jerusalem on the side. It is made entirely of wood, fitted together with tongue-in-groove corners and glued. The top is carved with a cross and four flowers. The wood shows a nice grain running through it, but I don't know what kind of wood it is. Do you? It measures just under 2 1/2 inches / 6 1/2 cm square, by about 1 3/4 inches / 3 1/2 cm tall.

This piece consists of three parts. A wooden box exactly like the Wooden Box from Jerusalem, only smaller (dimensions 1 3/4 inches / 4 1/2 cm square by 1 3/4 inches / 3 1/2 cm tall); and two tiny books with red paper covers that were kept in it. I can't read them, I think they're in Hebrew or Arabic. I think they're tiny Bibles or Torahs, but it doesn't matter, I just love tiny books because they're tiny! The books measure approximately 1/2 inch / 1 1/4 cm tall by 1/2 inch / just over 1 cm wide.

First, to show their scale, the Jerusalem box on left, Bethlehem box on right: