Most orders ship in 24 hours and deliver within 3-4 days!
Everyone can find a use for a good bowl, especially one that has character! Our wood bowls are carved by hand from the root of an individual tree. Each bowl has a unique personality whose shape and colors flow throughout the piece.
Each of our small wood bowls are hand carved and finished. Each bowl is made from an individual root and is a unique piece of art. These beautiful small bowls range in size from 8 to 10 inches. more
The medium wood bowls are a very nice size for fresh fruit. The single root is carved by hand, and takes many hours to complete. Each of the bowls are unique pieces that you will be pleased to give as a gift, or display in your own home. These root carved bowls range in size from 9 to 12 inches. more
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HAND CARVED BOWLS AT WOLVERINEWOODART.COM
Like people, our root carved bowls are all different. The shape flows along the top edge that flares and moves in distinct ways. Subtle changes in the ebb and flow of the grain create patterns and color shifts. No matter how many times you look at a particular bowl, you always seem to find something that you've not seen before.
Nature has distinct ways of revealing her beauty. A delicate flower petal, the grace of a bird in flight, the sound of water meandering around and over rocks in a shallow creek. If you hold a wood bowl in your hands, you can feel the shape, trace the grain of the wood with your fingertip. See where colors were absorbed from the earth, and just maybe for a moment experience the calmness and solitude of the place where this tree once grew.
Shown below are some photos of hand carved bowls from our "Idea Gallery". Click on the smaller photos to view larger, more detailed photos.
Our root carved wood bowls are nicely finished on the inside to show vivid grain and colours that run from a light amber to a deep red with every shade of brown in between. Some bowls are light in color, while others are darker. Each is unique in its own right and most people become quickly attached to their bowl.
People have been making bowls for thousands of years. Earthen bowls, stone, clay, and when tools became available, wood. Personally I like wood, I guess that's why I do what I do. To me wood has qualities that other materials do not. Wood is strong, yet delicate. Warm and inviting, not cold. It has mass, but is lightweight when properly dried and finished. I guess my favorite characteristic is that wood seems to have the closest direct connection to nature and the tree from which it came. I love to look at the grain and growth rings in the wood. You can imagine a good growth year, a dry one where the rings are closer together, and all the little imperfections and knots. All wood shares common characteristics, but like people, every wood bowl is different.
One of my favorite things to do is set a nice table and as part of the meal, make some fresh hot rolls, put a colorful cloth liner in a bowl and serve the rolls to dinner guests. The color of the bowl blends and compliments the golden brown color of the rolls. It just adds that extra touch to the dinner table, and the rolls are irrestible, yummy!
While I love bread of almost any sort, I do have to watch myself. I always keep a bowl with fresh fruit on the kitchen counter for snacks during the day. Much healthier of course, and I always keep it colorful with apples, oranges, bannanas, grapes, and other fresh fruit as the season dictates. It's nice to have a bowl of fresh fruit out when friends and family come by. It keeps them from having to ask for something, or dig around in the refrigerator to find something to snack on.
During the holidays, all my wood pieces are in use. Baskets, bowls, plates and platters. Small bowls for fruit and nuts, platters for cheese and crackers, baskets for fruit and bread. On all the tables, in the kitchen, they all have their appropriate spot, and use. It's fun to decorate them up for the holidays with colorful ribbon, silk flowers, fresh flowers. I even keep a small bowl filled with potpourri in each of the baths and bedrooms to liven things up a bit.
It's always nice to hear the creative ways my friends and customers find to use their woodart bowls. I encourage anyone to send a picture of their favorite bowl arrangement. Maybe someday I'll even put a few up on the website for others to appreciate.
Bowls are used to serve food, and are sometimes used for drinking and storing other items. They are generally small and shallow, although some, such as punch bowls and salad bowls, are larger and are sometimes intended to serve many people at once. Bowls have existed for thousands of years. Modern bowls can be made of ceramic, metal, wood, plastic, and other materials. Their appearance can range from very simple designs of a single color to sophisticated artwork.
Our hand carved Shan Mu bowls are nicely sanded and finished on the inside to show vivid grain and colors that run from a light amber to a crimson red with every shade of brown in between. Some pieces are generally light in color, while others are darker, but each is unique. An ideal focal point for any table setting, these root bowls command a presence all by themselves. Small bowls are ideal for snacks such as nuts and being 6 to 8 inches in diameter at the top edge easily fit on any small table.
The medium size bowls are 10 to 12 inches in diameter and work well on a small dining table. I particularly like to line the bowl with a linen napkin of a contrasting color for hot rolls straight out of the oven. This size bowl also works well to hold a few pieces of fresh fruit in the kitchen where people can easily help themselves.
Large and extra large bowls require a larger table setting for display. Ranging in size from 12 to 16 inches, these larger pieces are ideal on a large dining table filled with fresh sliced bread and rolls. They certainly will dress up any holiday dinner table.
Bowls are used to serve food, and are sometimes used for drinking and storing other items. They are generally small and shallow, although some, such as punch bowls and salad bowls, are larger and are sometimes intended to serve many people at once. Bowls have existed for thousands of years. Modern bowls can be made of ceramic, metal, wood, plastic, and other materials. Their appearance can range from very simple designs of a single color to sophisticated artwork.
Bowls are ubiquitous. In examining bowls found during an archaeological dig in North America, the anthropologist Vincas Steponaitis defines a bowl by its dimensions, writing that a bowl's diameter rarely falls under half its height and that historic bowls can be classified by their edge, or lip, and shape.
The American standard soup bowl has a mouth, the opening not including the extent of its lip, with a diameter of 18.5cm, and should be able to adequately accommodate at least 24 oz. of liquid.
In classical Greece, small bowls, including phiales and pateras, and bowl-shaped cups called kylices were used. History of Ancient Pottery describes how phiales were used for libations and included a small dent in the center for the bowl to be held with a finger, although one source indicates that these were used to hold perfume rather than wine.
American Indians made bowls and other wares for trading purposes and much is known and documented of the Native American Indian baskets in early homes, however, not much is known of Native American bowls. Before the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans used flint and other stone blades as knives and axes for hewing and carving wood and other materials. A block of wood or burl would be cut from a tree and the interior burned out with hot coals, scraped, and burned some more. This was repeated until a sufficient cavity was formed. The bowl would be shaped and refined further using a combination of smaller stone implements and beaver’s teeth. In finishing the bowl it would be burnished with a smooth stone or the side of a beaver’s tooth. Numerous manufactured metal tools and appliances brought over by 16th and 17th century European settlers had an immediate impact on the lives of Native Americans. Two such implements were the steel or iron hatchet and the steel knife. These were quickly favored over the stone and tooth tools. Though the proficiency in which the natives made their bowls improved, there is no indication that the new tools improved the craftsmanship and artistry of their wood carved bowls and ladles.
The Tarahumara Indians that inhabit the Sierra Madre region of Mexico have been hand crafting unique wood bowls for generations. Their "dough bowls" begin as a piece of downed tree trunk from native yellow pine, which is then split in half lengthwise then carved with an ax to form the shape of the bowl. It is further worked with a machete or large knife to achieve its final shape. Once the shape is formed the bowls are sanded smooth. Corn and wheat kernels are ground between a smooth stone and a tapered stone trough. The dough bowl is placed at the lower end of the trough to catch the corn or wheat flour as it is ground. The beauty of these rustic dough bowls is enhanced by the natural irregularities of the wood. Their character is as rich as the Tarahumara Indian heritage. They work well as wall or table decorations, as flower planters or fruit bowls, and can also be stained or painted for a variety of uses.
Early American settlers used a variety of wood bowls, ranging from small salt dishes to round and oval bowls for serving the main dish at the meal. Large round and oblong ones, often 20 inches across, were used a chopping bowls. Wood also was a material for making washing bowls, similar to the earthenware and pottery ones of later years. American pioneers shaped the earliest bowls with simple tools, such as chisels, knives, and planes. In the 18th century, colonial tradesmen began to make woodenware using lathes for turning the inside of bowls, cups, and mortars. From this came the name of "turner's ware" for such items.
As a thriving woodenware industry developed in New England, bowls were made by both individual turners and manufacturers or woodenware mills. The Shakers of New Hampshire and New York made wooden bowls, usually painted on the outside with yellow, blue, blue-green, or orange. Theirs were well-made and of excellent design and proportion. Most Shaker wares now are found only in museums or private collections.
Native American woods, such as pine, curly and bird's -eye maple, poplar, yellow birch, cherry, ash, beech, and walnut were most commonly used for constructing these wares. White ash bowls often were fashioned into nests of bowls. These were rare items, even in those days, and a household was unlikely to have more than one set. So today, they are greatly coveted by collectors. Among other rare pieces are bowls of curly and bird's-eye maple.
Wood Features
Burls are highly figured, uniquely grained, round growths appearing on the sides of trees. Their origins are somewhat vague they are thought to be caused by viruses or trauma. Highly sought after, they are commercially valuable for furniture accents, car dashboards, and carving, in addition to wood turning. Often a tree has many burls or many trees in a local area will have burls.
Spalted (spoiled) wood is the result of natural decay. While most decaying wood is unremarkable, occasionally two fungi collaborate to produce a dramatic pattern and figure of black carbon. Depending on the stage of decay, spalted wood can be structurally compromised. It is often soft or punky and feels very light. It is generally quite challenging to obtain good surface integrity or apply a high gloss finish. The best spalted woods have lots of blond sapwood, such as maple.
Bark inclusions are areas of bark surrounded by wood. The tree has literally grown around the once exterior bark. If large these can present structural problems.
Ambrosia (wormy) maple has been attacked by the parasitic ambrosia beetle. This insect bores into the tree (typically the soft maples) while carrying a fungus which stains the tree in a distinctive radiating pattern. This effect is most evident when the tree is viewed in cross section.
Crotches are where two trunks (or branches) come together as one. There is a feathering effect or other irregular figure at this junction. A good knot can provide much of the same effect. Crotches produce some interesting effects when they dry.
Bowl/Vessel Types
Open forms, including bowls that typically are wider than they are tall vases which are the same or taller than wide.
Natural edge involves wood orientation so that the bark side of the tree forms the rim of the vessel. Generally open forms, but can include any type of turning including hollow forms and plaques. Bark from freshly cut trees stays attached best otherwise it's a natural edge, but not a bark edge.
Closed forms in which the rim of the vessel is smaller than the widest part of the vessel. The interior of the vessel is readily visible and accessible.
Hollow forms: any shape where the opening is small enough to require blind access with the tools (bottles, jars, Southwest ollas, etc.)
Wood Surface Treatments
Carving is done after a piece has been turned. It can involve a spiked top edge or a highly sculptural effect in which most of the original turned form is transformed.
Piercing involves removing wood to form a delicate web like or other open pattern. The work needs to be quite thin (close to one sixteenth inch). Piercing is done with high speed, hand held rotary tools.
Texturing involves applying a wire brush or a cutting device to the moving surface on the lathe. A variety of effects are possible based on the type of cutter, the orientation of the wood on the lathe and lathe and/or cutter speed.
Medieval Drinking Bowls
At the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 the practice of drinking from wooden bowls was introduced to Britain and overnight it seems the turned wooden cups favored by Saxons and Vikings became obsolete. Pottery throughout the medieval period was mainly restricted to jugs, storage and cooking pots.
The first images of drinking bowls in use are from the Bayeux tapestry where, as is common in pictorial evidence, the bowls are very large. Drinking from a bowl seems a strange practice today, especially if the bowl is large. The practice continues today in France where particular drinks such as cider or the breakfast café au lait are often drunk from a bowl.
When did the custom of drinking from bowls die out? The last significant collection of drinking bowls are from the Mary Rose which sank in 1545. These are all much larger bowls mostly between 8“ and 10“, again they have a thinned rim and no internal knife cuts (other than intentional decorative ones). Many are personalized with carved graffiti inside and out. They were found scattered around the ship as if they were personal property in contrast to the larger number of flatter dishes which all have innumerable knife cuts and were found mostly in the area of the galley.
Copyright 2005-2010 ExhibitWare, All Rights Reserved 908 LLoyd Avenue, Royal Oak, MI 48073
