Natural Edge Root Wood Bowl

A medium-sized bowl with a freeform shape, made from the root ball of an American hop hornbeam tree. This bowl features an organically shaped interior with the rich coloring and swirling grain patterns common to root wood. The exterior is a combination of flat-cut facets and a rim of the coarse natural bark. The contrast between the polished, light-colored wood and the coarse dark bark give this piece visual and tactile appeal. The wood of this bowl is particularly beautiful and varied, It includes areas of convoluted, disorganized grain, other areas that show curly figure, a dark patch of bark inclusion, and a knot. Much of it also displays the property known as chatoyancy, where the apparent color of the wood changes depending on the angle you view it from.

American hop hornbeam (or hophornbeam) is a fairly common understory tree in my area, and is one of several species sometimes referred to as ironwood. As that name implies, it's a dense, hard wood. The root woods of many species of tree are dark in color, but the colors of hop hornbeam root wood range from a creamy light beige to a pale reddish brown.

The tree this bowl was made from was uprooted during a blizzard in the winter of 2017-2018. It's polished inside and out to a gleaming shine and finished with a tung oil varnish blend. It would be perfect for holding candies, nuts, fruit, or simply enjoyed as a beautiful decoration.

10 inches in its longest dimension, about 7.25 inches wide, and 3.5 inches at its highest point (25 x 18.5 x 9 cm).

A longer video of this bowl displayed on a rotating turntable can be seen at: https://youtu.be/HEpLdIe1uIE