Treen for the Table: Wooden Objects Relating to Eating and Drinking

This lavishly illustrated book concentrates on pieces related to eating and drinking and celebrates the range and richness of the turner's art from 1600 to 1900. It covers a wide range of objects for everyday and ceremonial use; goblets to nutcrackers, platters to lemon squeezers, mortars to salts, wassail bowls to egg cups. It discusses the work of the 'jobbing' village turner or 'bodger', the skilled craftsman's workshop and the grand Court turner producing complex rose engine turning. It illustrates pieces only to be found in museums and examples you can find today in your local antiques market or fair.

Information is given on where treen may be seen and found and there is practical advice on pitfalls for the collector, dating and cleaning, as well as a chapter dealing with surfaces and patina and one asking for readers' help in identifying the purpose of some curious objects. This volume will appeal not only to new collectors seeking guidance and inspiration and antique dealers who may come across treen, but also to experts who can compare the objects in their own collections with those illustrated in this veritable feast of treen.

Jonathan Levi is an American writer and producer, and author of A Guide for the Perplexed. His short stories and articles have also appeared in many magazines including Granta, Conde Nast Traveler, GQ, Terra Nova, The NationandThe New York Times. Born in New York, he currently lives in Rome, Italy.