| Project by stefang | posted 866 days ago | 2742 views | 10 times favorited | 64 comments |  |
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It is a Norwegian tradition in some parts of the country to carry porridge in a container like this to a mother as her first meal after giving birth. That is the reason for it being decorative. I composed the decorative elements myself, but they are true to tradition. I’ve never seen two of these alike. Decoration in the past varied between carving, rose-painting and wood burning and often a combination of the foregoing.
The originals were made from coopered stave’s and banded with a thin band riven from a solid piece of wood to hold the stave’s together. The bands would have been pre-soaked in water and then installed tight as possible. While drying, the bands would shrink thereby keeping the stave’s nice and tight.
My version looks pretty authentic, but instead of stave’s it is turned from solid green Birch (wet wood). The bands also look very authentic, but they too are just turned.
The bottom was a dry disk placed in a groove near the bottom of the container. The container walls were then left to shrink in around the disk making the container water tight. The top is held in place by a nub on the handle piece which inserts into a shallow hole in one end, while the other end is held place by a pin with a handle through the ear and into the other end of the handle piece.
After cutting out at the base and the top ‘ears’ I carved the decorative details. The center is chip carved with a simple repeating pattern, mainly to give some texture to the piece without being flamboyant.
The piece won’t be handled a lot, so I just used a light finishing oil and topped it off with some beeswax to give it a modest luster.
Thanks for looking in. I hope you like it.
-- Mike, American in Norway
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64 comments so far
Tim29
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307 posts in 1319 days
#1 posted 866 days ago
Really great. very detailed
-- Tim, Nevada MO
GMman
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#2 posted 866 days ago
Wonderful and great details
mtnwild
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3474 posts in 1697 days
#3 posted 866 days ago
Fantastic! Really beautiful workmanship and design. Treasure…..........................
-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.
dustynewt
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628 posts in 2032 days
#4 posted 866 days ago
Fabulous work. What a great memento of such a special occasion.
-- Peace in Wood ~ http://www.etsy.com/shop/DustyNewt
rivergirl
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3200 posts in 1008 days
#5 posted 866 days ago
This is as interesting as it is beautiful. I love traditional craftsmanship! Excellent work here. The carved side panel is lovely.
-- Homer : "Oh, and how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain."
Tim
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1292 posts in 1734 days
#6 posted 866 days ago
Mike, this is superb! and thanks for the history of it too, interesting. There is a lot of different types of woodworking going on there, the bands look real at first glance.
-- Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from poor judgement.
TopamaxSurvivor
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13192 posts in 1845 days
#7 posted 866 days ago
Very nice Mike. I like traditional Norwegian designs. I’m sure mom would love to rosemall one of those, with out the chip carving, of course ;-)
-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0
Daiku
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185 posts in 1077 days
#8 posted 866 days ago
Great piece! Your craftsmanship is top notch. I don’t know if I would have the patience to do something this detailed.
-- Cal Noguchi
littlecope
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2329 posts in 1671 days
#9 posted 866 days ago
Beautiful Piece Mike!!
You have quite a full bag of tricks and skills, my Friend… Full of Surprises… :)
Very Well Done!!
-- Mike in Concord, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.
Triumph1
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810 posts in 1249 days
#10 posted 866 days ago
Mike…that is beautiful man. The carving is simply outstanding…I love it. Amazing craftsmanship in this piece…so are you really going to fill it with porridge? :-)
-- Jeff , Illinois Please...can I stay in the basement a little longer, please!
Jonathan
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2568 posts in 1220 days
#11 posted 866 days ago
Mike, you gave always turned out very nice work, ut it seems that you’ve really stepped it up lately! This is amazingly detailed.
Thanks for the history of this type of piece as well.
Really nice work that I hope you will continue to produce and share with us.
-- Jonathan, Denver, CO "Constructive criticism is welcome and valued as it gives me new perspectives and helps me to advance as a woodworker."
Chip
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1904 posts in 2262 days
#12 posted 866 days ago
Stunning piece of craftsmanship there Mike. So many skills are shown on this piece and they all come together gracefully and beautifully. I’ve seen a number of these over the years and this one is most certainly among the finest.
-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt!
degoose
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6594 posts in 1524 days
#13 posted 866 days ago
Terrific, Mike.
-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ larrysworkshop.wordpress.com For lovers of all things timber...
grizzman
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5386 posts in 1473 days
#14 posted 866 days ago
boy howdy mike…i saw this and it just made me smile…i love things like this..from the culture of another country, its fantastic..you did a wonderful job and i love your carving…so when things look like they might be quite over on your end of the world…mike is busy making something of beauty..grand job….grizz. p.s i love porridge
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
mafe
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8056 posts in 1258 days
#15 posted 866 days ago
Mike! You amaze me! Yes this is so well made, and with such fine details, what a piece of work.
Yes you sure are a surprising man, I’m really impressed.
Did you also carve it while the wood was relativly fresh so it was not too tough?
I never before heard the story of these, thank you.
-- Mad F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.
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