Ladle (Spoon)

Description

This wooden ladle has an oval bowl and a long handle, which is flat on its upper surface and rounded on the underside. The end of the handle sharply curves to form a hook. Utilitarian household items made from wood are sometimes called treen or treenware, terms which come from the word tree. This ladle was hand carved from a burl – a knotty, irregular growth which can form on trees. 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 the wood’s interlocking grain made burl treen more durable and less subject to splitting than straight grain woodenware. The maker and origin of this ladle is unknown, but its construction suggests it may have been made by a Native American artist.