An Introduction for Woodwork

Woodwork

Woodwork in the Eastern woodlands was a highly developed art form since early times due to the vast resource of knowledge and various materials available. Dependent on the intended use, these Native craftsmen chose material based on its physical properties which lent to the longevity of many of the finished items. For example; burled maple and ash seem to be a predominant material used for utilitarian items such as bowls because of it’s resistance to checking (cracks), straight grained elm, ash, and hickory was used for basketry and archery items due to the wood’s natural flexibility, the root stock of maple and other hardwoods were used for clubs due to it’s density and durability.

Prior to the introduction of metal trade goods, a great majority of utilitarian wooden items were made by a "burn and scrape" process which is comprised of a meticulous controlled burning of the intended article followed by scraping away the charred wood and repeating this process until finished, while later early examples show that metal tools were employed in their construction. We know this due to a heightened state of preservation of some archaeological specimens that were preserved by associated trade goods. The means of this preservation is attributed to common brass trade goods, i.e. kettles, wire, and scrap sheet. When the brass corroded, copper salts (sulfates and oxides) were leached into the soil and the surrounding organic material and acted as an anti-microbial agent, thus prohibiting normal rotting of the wood. Many other items such as carved bone, antler, basketry, and textiles were naturally preserved by this process as well.

Things you should consider before ordering:

• Due to harvesting and seasoning of material; all of our woodwork is done on a seasonal basis.
• Material is harvested in the summer and it is allowed to season for 1-2 years before carving is done.
• All work is limited to material on-hand.
• It is difficult to completely avoid the nature of a particular piece of wood. Even after seasoning, there can always be naturally occurring checks (cracks), bark inclusions, and grain variance.
• Average wait on custom woodwork 1-3 years
• Please call for availability

Please check our listings for currently available

Woodwork
       ...click here

At The Eastern Door 2007