Bowl

Description

This wooden bowl, with a deep oval form and a flat base, is made from burl – a knotty, irregular growth which can form on trees. Utilitarian household items made from wood are sometimes called treen or treenware, terms which come from the word tree. Burl treen was commonplace in pre-colonial and colonial America, used among Native Americans and European settlers alike. Burls were plentiful in North American forests and their naturally round shapes easily lent themselves to the form of a bowl, while the wood’s interlocking grain made burl treen more durable and less subject to splitting than straight grain woodenware. This bowl is worn and cracked, with a jagged rim that is broken at one end. It may have been made by a Native American artist, as its shape and construction resemble other burl bowls carved by Eastern Woodlands peoples.