Wooden Bowls

As a widely available material, wood has been used across the world to create domestic objects for millennia. The extensive variety of trees in different geographic locations, as well as the creativity of woodworkers from diverse cultures, has resulted in an incredible range of practical and decorative woodenware.

Historically, wooden bowls have played an important role as objects for everyday use and ceremonial rituals. In the Solomon Islands, women use chisels, hammers, and sandpaper to create shallow bowls lined with inlaid shells and polished with beeswax. Once completed, the bowls are used daily within the home, as well as during special social occasions involving the local community. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kuba people also create wooden bowls used for a variety of purposes, although their objects feature carved geometric designs and figural motifs often referencing ancestors and important mythological spirits.

People across the world continue to appreciate wooden bowls for their elegant forms and natural grain patterns. An assortment of bowls made of oak, cherry wood, cedar, pine, and many other types of wood is available at auction today.

Quick Facts

• On April 2, 2015, Christie’s New York sold a group of seven American wooden wares, including four bowls from the 19th century, for $2,750
• On May 14, 2010, Sotheby’s New York sold a large Woodlands wood bowl, probably Iroquois, from the early 19th century for $15,000
• Woodturning, a technique used by the ancient Egyptians and continued to this day, is frequently used to make wood bowls. The process involves a lathe, which spins a piece of wood while a woodworker carves the object into the finished product