The Ort Brothers—A while back Mike Stafford posted on WOW a couple of ort bowls that he had turned. I liked the shape and thought I would do some research on these bowls. To start with, I thought ort had to do with Native Americans, either the name of a tribe or the shape of the vessel. After many attempts at trying to find the tribe or any relationship to Native Americans, I came across the definition of ort and found that it meant leftover or scrape. With a little more research I found that an ort bowl was placed on a table during mealtime and was used for collecting bones, fat, gristle, or other pieces of the meal that people did not want to eat or leave on their plate. So much for any ties with Native Americans. Now all I need to do is find out what calabash means:-D
The largest turning is spalted oak burl and is 7”W x 8 ½”H. The next sized turning is chestnut (not sure if it is Chinese or Japanese) and is 7”W x 6 ¼”H. The smallest turning is spalted pecan. It came from a tree that was over 200 years ol and is 7”W x 5”H.
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