Treen Ware

Post date: 15-Nov-2012 01:32:40

There are a number of definitions of the word "treen". A simple one is: 

Cookware, tableware, or eating utensils made of wood. (The Free Dictionary)

However I have always understood it to be somewhat broader in scope. This one is from the book Woodcraft of the World: 

Small, carefully crafted everyday objects made from wood, often from a single piece.

The term is usually associated with the British Isles, but the concept is clearly not restricted to there. In times past, when access to materials such as pottery, ceramics, pewter, glass, metal and more recently, plastics, was quite restricted or even impossible, many people made do with wooden objects. 

Treenware for putting pattern in butter

Wood played a much greater part as the raw material for common objects. Turning and carving were the key manufacturing techniques. The selection of wood species was important, and close-grained hardwoods such as box, beech and sycamore were particularly favoured in the UK.

That is not to say that these were considered inferior or cheap. Some wooden spoons, for example, have been discovered in Egyptian tombs, alongside silver and gold ones. These were considered important enough to be included for the afterlife.

Many were mentioned in wills, ensuring that they were kept in the family, clearly outliving the person that made them.

Wooden objects have survived relatively less well than those of metal or stone, and their study by archaeologists and historians has been somewhat neglected until recently. Their strongly functional and undecorated forms have however been highly regarded by designers and collectors. 

The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery purchased a large collection of over 7,000 items of treen in 1965 from Edward Pinto. Searching their website now shows such diverse items as dog collars, back scratchers, aurascope, chalk line winder, barbers box and more.

Although particularly suited to the kitchen, they are not exclusive to it.

Japanese miso bowl with chopsticks

Images are from Woodcraft of the World, RD Press,, Chippendale, NSW. ©1994.