Kolyo Stayko shows the head of his shepherd’s crook as his sheep and goat herd grazes one morning on the mountainside near Chepelare, Bulgaria. Many herders in Bulgaria carve ornate heads on these ancient tools that are used to ensnare the leg of individual animals for capture and handling. The serpent symbolizes the earth, and the ram’s head and a wolf epitomize the intertwined lives of the animals – predator and prey – found in the wild of the Balkans.
5 comments:
That thing is super cool! Did they send you home with one?
I hope they did-- and can you get more? I WANT one!
They sent me home with one that was a work in progress. Apparently since I'm a sheep herder I'm supposed to carve, but I won't change it. One wonderful woman, Dandi, told me that WHEN I next return, she'll give me a completed carved head. Love those people!
There's something remarkable about the human spirit creating art in everyday tools or from by-products of their vocations--the old market hunters hand-carved waterfowl decoys and intricately scrimshawed sperm whale teeth by 19th Century whalers come to mind. That crook head is in the same category.
Beautiful!
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