18th Century American Colonial Ash Burl Bowl

Circa 1760-1780: Measuring a whopping 19.25" in diameter and 6.25" in height, this fantastic ash burl bowl is extremely well made. We know the craftsman who made this bowl was very experienced because of how thinly the bowl is turned and how nicely it is accented with both a simple but graceful lip and a fine small foot. A bowl with these same features is illustrated on page 34 of Steven S. Powers' North American Burl Treen: Colonial & Native American (Mercantile/Image Press 2005). Powers gives his illustrated example a New York attribution; so our bowl could very well originate from that area, though it is certainly from somewhere in the northeastern part of the United States. Our bowl has a beautiful surface with a very early or possibly original coat of varnish that has worn with generations of use. The inside is of variegated color with old worn chopper marks. These things are part of the bowl's use history and point to the honesty of its historic surface. Finally, the bowl is out of round but has no cracks, and this shows is its great age and the strength of ash burl itself. This is a superlative example of American colonial burl treen.