Before it was yours

Stanley Park Maple Burl Bowl

Name: Stanley Park Maple Burl Bowl
Brand: Moon & Moss

Maple

Its life so far

Stanley Park Maple Burl

From the workshop of

Moon & Moss

Looking after it

A wipe with a damp cloth, never the dishwasher, and a little food-safe oil when the wood looks dry. Don't overthink it - wood is hardy and resilient, and everything I make is meant to be used.

This maple grew in Stanley Park. When the tree came down, a local woodworker kept the burl rather than let it go to the chipper. It sat in his collection for over forty years before it came to me as slabs. Maple burl keeps its secret on the outside. Once cut, the face opened into a dense field of eyes and swirling grain. I marked out the bowls directly on the slab and cut them out on the bandsaw.

Cutting the blank

Cut from the slab on the bandsaw, then mounted on the faceplate.

Shaping & hollowing

Outside shaped first, then flipped and hollowed. The figure stayed hidden the whole time, waiting for oil.

Maple burl bowl — 7.5 x 2.5, shallow open form

Kept shallow and open, just over seven inches across. Burl this busy wants room to be seen. The walls are left with some weight to them, which suits the wood. Some of the natural voids are part of what makes this piece itself. Finished with pure polymerized linseed oil and a little beeswax. Nothing more.