A tree's wood is also it's memoir. Hope Jahren

{HISTORY}

Made by Watt Pottery in Ohio in the 1940's, this trio of vintage mixing bowls features a faux bois style wood grain pattern that is ideal for rustic kitchens, primitive homesteads, woodsy interiors and cozy cabins. With its almond colored clay and chocolate brown striping, its also a wonderful style for masculine spaces where traditional floral patterns don't quite fit.

Although the faux bois aesthetic has been around for centuries, it saw a resurgence in popularity from the late 1800's to the 1940's. Most commonly, this type of artistic fake wood interpretation was seen on garden objects like planters and benches or vases and garden pots. When Watt Pottery incorporated this style into their dishware, they added a dynamic and artistic sense of character to the kitchen that made them unique among American potteries. 

Now a very rare, hard to find set, Watt Pottery made several different shades and styles in the Wood Grain pattern. Some came in solid colors of nutmeg and pumpkin (also known as Wood Grain Russet), some contained herring bone style stripes (Wood Grain Owens) and others came in assorted pastel shades with embossed designs (Wood Grain Colors). The pattern on the bowls featured here was called Wood Grain Wiped Brown and bared the closest resemblance to actual wood grain. 

The way in which these bowls have weathered other the past 80 years makes them seem much older. Primitive both in design and construction, each bowl is not uniformly and perfectly round (most noticeable when nested all together) which gives them an absolutely wonderful handmade aesthetic similar to early earthenware bowls and jugs. 

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- Faux Bois style

- Wood Grain Wiped Brown pattern

- Two of the bowls are marked on bottom (Ovenware 610W USA and Ovenware 607W USA), the third bowl is blank.

- Matching set of three bowls that nest inside each other

- Rare, hard to find pattern and pieces

{CONDITION}

Each of these bowls have lived adventuresome lives in the kitchen. The largest bowl contains a small time-worn chip on the rim, interior pit marks and crazing. The medium sized bowl contains two hair-line cracks, crazing and staining. The smallest bowl contains a rough rim, pit marks, staining and crazing. Due to these condition issues, it is not recommended that they be used for traditional mixing bowl purposes. Please see style ideas. 

{SIZE}

The largest bowl measures 10"inches (diameter) x 5" inches (height). The medium bowl measures 9" inches (diameter) x 4.25" inches (height). The smallest bowl measures 7.5" inches (diameter) x 3.5" inches (height).

Total weight of all three bowls is just over 7 lbs. 

{STYLE IDEA}

While these bowls might no longer be ideal mixing bowl helpers in the kitchen, they are lovely holders for fruit, vegetables, nuts, pumpkins, pine cones and all of nature's bountiful harvests that wind up in your kitchen or at your table for display.