Robin Wood

From 600-1600 AD nearly everyone in Britain ate and drank from simple wooden vessels. Bowls and cups were turned on a primitive but effective foot powered lathe. With the introduction of cheap mass produced pottery the craft declined and finally the skills were lost.

Robin Wood spent many years rediscovering the lost skills before becoming a full time bowlturner ten years ago. He uses locally harvested hardwoods and the simplest of technologies to make beautiful, humble bowls and plates. His bowls have been supplied to the Mary Rose Trust, the Globe Theatre, Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London but he particularly enjoys supplying the people who eat off his woodware every day.

His designs are inspired by many years research into the history of the craft. He has studied 1000 year Viking bowls from excavations at Novgorod in Russia, Oslo in Norway and Coppergate, York, medieval bowls from London and the Tudor woodware from the Mary Rose. In 2003 and 2004 he visited Sweden to teach and was inspired by the bowls in museums many of which were painted with egg tempera and natural pigments.

His designs are not slavish reproductions however but blend the best of past designs to create woodware which is a joy to use today.