Torii Gate with Bell

This project was commissioned by a client all the way across Canada in Nova Scotia.  The client had acquired a beautiful custom made bell that hangs from an elaborate metal chain and large ring.  He asked me to design a hand split red cedar structure from which to hang the bell in his garden.  He liked some of the Japanese inspired Torii gates I have made, and we decided to use that as our basis for the design.  The hard part was coming up with a design that looked good to hang the bell from.  The large ring is a little awkward for attaching to a rail and we didn’t want to hide it.  So I came up with the idea of some curved brackets that would follow the curve of the ring on either side, easily attaching with metal fasteners.  This allowed the ring to be seen, while raising it up enough to hang the bell at the desired height.  The woodworking is all hand split red cedar, with wood pegged mortise and tenon joinery.  I used some interesting dark/black pieces of salvaged cedar, which I find every once and a while.  These added a nice colour variation in the torii gate.  A great little project that now lives in a Japanese garden in Nova Scotia…