Our boatman guided the longboat alongside a dock as the sounds of Vulcan rang out. Doors papered with advertisements for London Rum and Grand Royal Whiskey framed the workshop’s entrance, marking this the territory of mighty men.  One step over the doorsill confirmed my suspicions of this shop as a fundamentally masculine domain. A buddha-like elder male sat crosslegged on his elevated perch above the flames which he stoked as he worked the bellows. On the ground in a smoky atmosphere, three muscular young men wielded sledge hammers to flatten a future blade, red hot and glowing neon orange, held on the anvil by the blacksmith. Henry and I watched and listened to the rhythmic pounding on the metallic shape, which paused only when the object cooled beyond its malleability, then was reheated to day-glow color in the open flames of the furnace. This rough and tough process surprisingly produced some delicate objects. As we walked around the perimeter of the room, delicate bells, gongs, and chimes lined the rough wooden shelves. More functional objects displayed here included swords, knives, and scissors. I was also heartened to notice an example of the spear used by the lake fisherman we had watched earlier on our boat trip on this lake. This long spear shape was identiacal to the one he used, its four arched prongs intended to trap a live fish in his funnel-shaped net apparatus. This blackshmith shop has contributed to the independence and resourcefulness of the Inle Lake communities. Their work provides tools of all description for the people who earn their livelihood in fishing, farming, and the crafts industries; and, is supportive to the needs of the various Buddhist pagodas which proliferate the territory in and around the lake.

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1. A steel blade on the anvil. 2. Two of the three sledge hammers, used to shape the steel. 3. The blacksmith at the anvil with the red hot heated blade. 4. Scissors that made at the blacksmith shop. These scissors were like the ones used in the cigar workshop. Center, Top: Man at the bellows, stoking the fire of the forge. Center, Bottom: The fire of the forge with the buddha-like elder working the bellows above the fire of the furnace.  Right Column: 1. Advertisements for liquors papering the doors to the blacksmith shop. 2. The blacksmith transferring the neo-colored steel from the heat of the fire to the anvil. 3. Three men wielding sledge hammers take their turns flattening the red hot heated blade on the anvil. 4. Cast bells on display at the blacksmith shop.

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                        BACK TO MAP  PAGE