ANTIQUE WOODEN MORTAR & PESTLE PLUS MORTAR ~ 2 ITEMS ~ 19th c. ~ TREEN

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ANTIQUE WOODEN MORTAR & PESTLE PLUS MORTAR ~ 2 ITEMS ~ 19th c. ~ TREEN:
$44.99

You are looking at a pair of treen mortars. The dark one was purchased years ago in Los Angeles from a treen collector’s estate. It measures approximately 4 1/4” in height with a top diameter of 2 1/2”. It is slightly ovoid from age. We’re not sure what kind of wood it is made of.

The second mortar with its’ original pestle was found here in Kentucky and being turned from maple is probably local in origin. It is 4 3/8” in height with a top diameter of approximately 2 1/2”. The pestle is approximately 4 1/2” in length. The top of the mortar is also ovoid from age.

We are not treen experts but we believe both of these wooden pieces are from the 19th century when treen mortars were common everyday items in many households and were used for a variety of reasons. The two items are in fair to good overall condition for wooden items of this age. While from obviously different sources, these mortars share similarity of form. They are essentially footed cups in a chalice shape. They are both decorated with a simple incised ring design to the body and have a stepped ring foot. The finish on the dark one has been “run” at some time in its history. By that we mean someone has attempted to liquefy the old finish because it was fried in order to preserve the original color, without stripping the piece. The maple pestle has an old repair to the handle where evidently a piece of wood splintered off.

You see these items as we found them. Both have the everyday dings one would expect of functional pieces perhaps 150-160 years of age. They could be even older. The mortars have no significant chips than otherwise noted. Perhaps the biggest bonus here is that neither mortar has any significant cracks which is unusual since wood shrinks across the grain over time due to dehydration and such cracking is quite common in treen ware. At any rate, these two old pieces are for the collector and deserve to be preserved.

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