'Kund' Bowl in Natural Wood

Provenance

The Kund bowl set belongs to the tradition of natural-wood turned wares from North Indian woodworking workshops — the craft of making functional vessels from wood in which the material's own grain, warmth, and variation are the primary qualities. The platter and bowl are turned or shaped in natural-finish wood without applied surface print, the material presenting itself directly. The cast bronze feet are fitted to the platter's underside, raising it from the table surface — a detail that moves the piece from purely functional to considered object.

Kund in Sanskrit names the bowl-shaped vessel, the sacred tank or pool — the form that holds rather than displays, the vessel associated with water, with offering, with the daily acts of nourishment and collection. In temple architecture, the kund is the stepped tank at the heart of the sacred complex — the water body around which ritual life organises. At domestic scale, the kund is the vessel of daily use: the bowl for storing, serving, offering. The bronze feet — a motif drawn from the decorative tradition of the frog or toad as a symbol of water, abundance, and good fortune — carry the platter at a slight elevation, giving it the quality of a vessel set apart for use.

Each piece in the set is individually worked in natural wood; variations in grain, colour, and tone between pieces are natural features of the material and are not defects. Set comprises one platter (9in diam × 1in H) and one lidded bowl (4.5in diam × 3.5in H).

Disclaimer

• These pieces are turned and finished in natural wood. Variations in grain, colour, and tone are natural features of the material.
• Minor imperfections in the wood surface are characteristic of handcrafted work and are not defects.