Bob Stocksdale Mahogany Turned Wood Bowl, Signed, 1960s

A 1960s mahogany turned wood bowl by important and influential American master woodturner Bob Stocksdale. Deceptively simple lathe-turned solid mahogany form with straight exterior sides, smoothly curved interior, and thinly formed rim displays an intuitive understanding of material, artistic eye for grain placement, and meticulously executed technique. Very handsome and rich naturally acquired tone and patina preserved by a hand-applied satin finish. 6.5-inch-diameter base with faintly visible hand-inscribed signature and wood type. Bob Stocksdale’s (b. 1913–2003) acclaimed fifty-year-long career spent woodturning out of his Berkeley, California, basement workshop began in earnest in 1946, one year after Gump’s in San Francisco started showing his work. His bowls were included in the American exhibit of the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair, and are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Oakland Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh, among others. His many honors include the American Association of Woodturners Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and the American Craft Council’s Gold Medal in 1995. Most importantly, Stocksdale revitalized and elevated the art of woodturning, inspiring and influencing countless woodworkers around the world, including notable friend and sometime collaborator Sam Maloof (b. 1916–2009). Dimensions Height: 3.75 in. Diameter: 10.75 in. Condition Good Wear consistent with age and use. In great vintage condition. Interior with one tiny mark that looks lighter in photos, and an extremely faint wear line or two. Sides with no notable marks or wear. Bottom with scratches of varying degree, and appears to have been lightly sanded.