Today I was making porringers that is small bowls with handles out of a 250 year old beech tree. Its very satisfying when I have a day where I go all the way from tree to finished bowls in one go. These bowls are copies of an Elizabethan one found in Sothwark not far from the Globe Theater so I think of them as my Shakespeare bowl. It’s a very good design…so good I use one for my breakfast every day.

In the afternoon I was visited at the workshop by some customers and we ended up spending a long time talking about ceramics. We had a shared interest in handmade stoneware pots. I actually feel to have a lot more in common with potters who make domestic ware than I do with most woodturners, few of whom make anything designed for use. Anyway we talked long enough that I ran out of daylight to finish the porringers so brought them home and carved the handles in front of the fire.

Author Robin Wood

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