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TREEN / BURL TREEN:
Steve Powers is the country's leading specialist in Native American (American Indian) treen sculpture by the Woodlands People and early American and European treen (woodenware.)
Treen is an old English word meaning "from the tree." Treen refers to small utilitarian objects of wood such as: carved wooden spoons, bowls, snuffboxes, turned trenchers (plates), mortars, etc.
Burl treen refers to treen made from the burl, which is a knotty outgrowth of a tree. Before North America was settled by Europeans, Native Americans had a centuries old practice of using these burls for their bowls and ladles and were master wood workers.
Please review our Portfolio / Recently Sold page to see the extent of the offerings we have handled.Rare Woodlands Abstracted Owl Effigy Ladle
Circa: 1800
Size: 6 1/2" (oal)I’ve written two books with chapters discussing effigy ladles and seen hundreds—I’ve only seen maybe a 1/2 dozen owl effigy ladles. In Woodlands culture owls are symbolic of a being that can travel between worlds and be a protector, and can also be a symbol of death. It depends on the context.
My love of Woodlands sculpture is their ability and interest in capturing a subject by means of an economy of line. They look to capture the essence of an animal by editing…not by adding more detail.First Rate French Treen Pipe Case
Circa: 1720
Size: 8" (oal)A "best of category" French treen pipe case carved of boxwood with an exceptional patina. A Christ figure hangs off the front and is flanked by praying figures. An amazing dog is to the left with heads looking center, left and right are above. A pewter inlaid cross with a glass front frames a print of a rose. The stem has an inlaid pewter sheath with pierced hearts (upright and upside down). Wax stars and hearts surmounted with crosses.
Rare Ash Burl Communion Cup
Circa: 1850-1860
Size: 9 1/2" D (base) x 7 1/2" D (top bowl) x 15 3/4”A very large, beautiful and peculiar piece of burl treen from Paris, Ontario. The bowl lifts off and during service would be passed around or held by the priest for drinking the communion wine. The burnish to the dowel of the stem indicates that the vessel was lifted on and off its base many times, giving evidence that it was well employed for some time.
Illustrated and discussed in North American Burl Treen: Colonial & Native American, p. 89.Rare Woodlands Crooked Knife with Large House Carving
Circa: 1840-1860
Size: 12" (oal including blade)Carved from the solid, this large and dramatic Woodlands Indian crooked knife features a large house or cabin atop four stilts. Though the meaning or reference to the unexpected carving is unknown, I have seen just one other with a house carved upon the handle (Mocotaugen The Story and Art of the Crooked Knife, Jalbert, plate 1, pps. 62-63).
SOLD
Exceptional English Treen Figural Nutcracker
Boxwood (or fruitwood)
Circa: 1720-1760
Size: 11" (oal")This is the best and most exciting treen nutcrackers that I have seen in some time. Quite large, this early screw-type boxwood (or fruitwood) nutrcracker features an expressive man with well defined features and an open mouth. His hair is finely done—shaped almost like a leaf. The handle is carved as a fish. The surface is first rate—a real treen lovers piece.
French Folk Art Treen Snuffbox - Six Men & A Dog
Circa: 1854
Size: 3" x 2" x 1 1/2"An exceptional French coquilla nut snuffbox. Masterfully carved with six men and a dog on the top. The interior is signed by the maker and dated 1854. The box or subject likely had meaning to the maker, as the composition of the men and dog is casually posed, seriously light-hearted and unique. A tour-de-force of design and execution. One of the most intricate, complex and high-relief carved coquilla boxes I have seen.
STEVEN S. POWERS • 109 3RD PL #2 • BROOKLYN, NY 11231 • 718-625-1715 • email: steve@stevenspowers.com • © all rights reserved
