15" handcarved wooden bowl ...origin?

Hello.

This bowl is fairly large, 15" diameter and 4" tall, weighs 3.5 lbs. Seems to be carved out of a single piece of wood, is worn in spots.

Sits flush with no wobble, but is a bit uneven in profile. Also it is a tiny bit oily or sticky, hard to describe. (When photographing it, I had a little stickiness on my fingers afterwards.) Also it feels heavy for its size.

This was purchased at a retirement home sale last week, kind of a higher end home w/lots of university profs retired there. If I had to make a guess, I'd think maybe it was a souvenir from Africa or something, perhaps brought back in the 1960's or 70's. Would that be about right?

Thanks for taking a look. (Photos 2 and 3 w/flash which brought a bit of a red color out that you don't see in natural light.) Thanks!

 

No clue but maybe it's weeping sap?

 

Hi,
I think it is residue from olive oil. That is why I always use mineral oil but OBB always tries to convert me to olive oil.
greg

 

I rarely comment in this Tribal Art forum since I know next to nothing about these things. But for some reason I really like this bowl, and wanted to say that.

 

Well I like that you did!

 

I MUCH prefer to use Mineral Oil.....purer and no chance of any olive oil going rancid!

 

<snicker>

See, I've never had olive oil go crud on me.

I suspect the iggy stuff is just residue of paws and muck. I'd give it a good hard wipe with an old piece of toweling wrung out well in hot water, with maybe just a teensy drop of washing up liquid. A well used microfibre cloth will work, too. If it still feels manky, try a bit of white vinegar on said old cloth, but wipe it thoroughly off after.

If you're me, you then use a smidgen of olive oil.

 

I'd think this is lathe-turned rather than carved, judging by the evenness of the circular rings. There are lathe chucks for bowl-turning that clamp on, and don't leave the small round marks found on many turned items.
I don't get any particular Native American or Canadian vibe, though; possibly African, or somewhere....?

 

I was told to use walnut oil, but did not like the odor.

 

That hard, dark wood looks Indonesian/Philippine to me. Hubby brought back a wooden salad set from the Philippines in the late 60s and it's similar. Yours looks pretty old, though.

 

Thank you, everyone! I wish I knew more of the history. Not normally my thing, but something about it is quite engaging and if I had the right spot, I might have kept it. I may be consigning it, just wanted to get a sense of what it was, in case it was more of an auction item. Thanks!