Rare 17th century Lignum Vitae treen wassail bowl with silver rim engraved "His Most Gracious Majesty King William's Punch Bowl, the gift of the Duke of Cumberland, to Cap. John Bury, 1764"
 
Provenance: Oliver family, Vancouver
Exhibited: Canadian Craft Museum "Festive Treasures: Silver" Exhibition November 26-January 23, 1999 
Size: 6 ½” h x 10 ¼” diameter
 
Wassail bowls derive their name from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Waes-hael’ which means ‘Good health”. Typically made in the 16th to early 18th centuries, they contained mulled cider and were used in drinking ceremonies which became an important part of society especially after the Reformation. The expansion of Britain’s colonial power and trade brought the introduction in the 16th century of the strong Lignum Vitae wood, considered the heaviest and hardest in the world, allowing bowls to be turned in far greater size than with English woods. Bowls made from Lignum Vitae wood, whose name is Latin for “Good Life”, were expensive and very popular. Wassailing celebrations are still practiced today to ensure that good health and community relations are nurtured for the upcoming harvest and year ahead.
Considered the heaviest and hardest wood in the world, the dense Lignum Vitae or ironwood (also called guayacan or pokhout), is from the slow-growing genus Guaiacum. Indigenous to Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America, it is the national tree of the Bahamas and the purplish-blue flower is the Jamaican national flower. Latin for ‘wood of life”, the plant was often used to treat medical conditions such as arthritis, and the wood chips to brew a contraceptive tea. Lauded for its density and strength, the tough wood was an important export to Europe from the early 16th century. The bare wood has fine texture and can be polished to a fine lustre due to high natural oil content. Able to withstand high stress and temperature, it is ideal for outdoor use and resistant to insect attack, a nd exceptional for turning on the lathe. It became the choice for outfitting sailing ships including belaying pins and sheaves of blocks, as well as for dunnage and ballast. Upon introduction to Europe it was employed for a variety of uses including treen (turned items), lawn, croquet and skittle balls, mortars and pestles, parts for clocks, and became the traditional wood for the British police truncheon. Until the introduction of modern synthetics, later uses include parts for hydro-electric plants, and the wood was instrumental in rebuilding the San Francisco railway after the 1906 earthquake and fire that followed, due to the availability of the wood in the holds of the ships in the harbour.