Ugandan Bowl with Native Repair

Smooth brown scoop with a stubby handle, like a ladle that gave up being tall.

This wooden bowl with native repair is from Uganda, East Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is wood & tin. Tin is a soft, easily worked metal, and a tin patch or staple can hold a cracked wooden bowl together. Shallow, boat-shaped dish with a rich chestnut surface and soft sheen. A short, rounded handle projects from one end. Along the far rim there is a pale mend or patch, and the inside is smooth. It is 14 inches wide, 8.5 deep and 4 high.

Humble, warm, and ready for whatever gets ladled in.