Claddagh Wood Carving, Celtic Love Knot Wall Decor, Traditional Irish Symbol, Of Love, Friendship Loyalty - Hands, Heart, Crown

MEANING: With these hands, I give you my heart, & I crown it with my Love. This Claddagh wood carving stands for Friendship, Love, & Loyalty & the Eternal Braid ensures that it will last forever. A Traditional Irish symbol, Most often found in the form of a ring, the hands represent friendship, the heart - love, & the crown - loyalty. Yet, another meaning can be, Let love & friendship reign forever. Most legends of the origin of the Claddagh start with a Galway Ireland fisherman, Richard Joyce, in the 17th century. He was captured by pirates & became an indentured servant to a goldsmith in Algiers where he learned gold smithing. It is said he became such a master of the craft that his master offered him his daughter's hand in marriage & half of his fortune at the end of his servitude. Joyce chose to return home & marry the woman who he had loved before he was captured. Their wedding band was a ring he had fashioned in her honor. The design was an artistic variation of the fede ring motif (from the Italian mani in fede, meaning hands in faith), in which two hands clasped. in his design, the 2 hands (their friendship) hold a heart (his love for his bride) & the crown (his fidelity to her). This is often given as a wedding gift, anniversary gift, & Valentine's Day gift. THE CARVING: Our carvings are single pieces of western red cedar, designed & carved to be wall hangings. Each carving begins as a 1 X 12-inch cedar board. While we use power tools (Scroll Saw, Rotary shaft Tool, handheld detail sanders, etc.), we use no lasers, CNC machines or computer-operated cutting machines. All work is done with our hands & eyes... We cut the 2-dimensional blanks with scroll & jig saws (double-sized custom orders have to be cut with a jigsaw). Carving is done with rotary shaft tools & disc grinders. The 80-grit sanding is the final phase of the carving process, removing the nicks & gouges from the carving tools, & finishes the shaping of the weave. The next 2 sandings with 120 & then 220 grit finishes the smoothing & polishing. They are finished with Clear Danish Oil to seal the piece, bringing out the grain & the color. SIZE: 10.5 inches high by 12.75 long. One picture has the piece on a quilting board, lined up on the 1-inch marks. The quilting board, at its simplest, is a one-inch grid. So with the piece on the board, you look at the top & follow the line to the left & look at the right side at the widest point & follow the line to the bottom & you have height by width...but wait! It's not that easy! The way this board I have is laid out, if I lined it up on the zero points it would cover up the numbers & on some pieces, you wouldn't be able to see them...so, I line it up on the 1-inch marks which means when you get the numbers, you have to subtract 1 inch... TA-DA! Measurements may vary slightly from piece to piece. Claddagh Wood Carving, Celtic Love Knot Wall Decor, Traditional Irish Symbol, Of Love, Friendship Loyalty - Hands, Heart, Crown