{"product_id":"antique-french-wooden-mortar-and-pestle-hand-carved-hardwood-late-18th-early-19th-century","title":"Antique French Wooden Mortar and Pestle | Hand-Carved Farmhouse Mortier | Late 18th to Early 19th Century","description":"\u003cp\u003eI would call this somewhat of a primitive Antique French Mortar... every cut mark is still there and it feels old in the best possible way. It is heavy, useful, a little irregular and completely connected to the kind of French farmhouse kitchen where if you couldn't afford a marble mortar, you made one out of wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis mortier en bois, or wooden mortar, was likely made in the late 18th to early 19th century.  It was carved from a single block of hardwood. No joinery, no hardware. Just one solid piece, shaped by hand for daily use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe exterior is covered in tool marks, giving the surface that wonderful faceted texture. No two sides are the same, and that is exactly what gives the mortar so much personality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe interior has darkened from long use, with a smooth worn bowl where herbs, salt, garlic, spices or nuts may have been pounded over generations. The accompanying wooden pestle is a later companion, turned from a lighter-toned wood and paired with the mortar somewhere along the way, as often happened with working kitchen tools that stayed in use for many years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday, it would be beautiful on a kitchen counter beside old cutting boards, pottery, linen and a few cloves of garlic. I would treat it mainly as a decorative and collectible kitchen piece now, but it still carries all the feeling of what it was made for: simple food, strong hands, and the slow practical rhythm of a French country kitchen.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Provence Collection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53504143688023,"sku":"DEC-009","price":590.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/4686\/4215\/files\/antique-french-wooden-mortar-and-pestle-hand-carved-hardwood-late-18th-early-19th-century-2.jpg?v=1778342505","url":"https:\/\/theprovencecollection.com\/products\/antique-french-wooden-mortar-and-pestle-hand-carved-hardwood-late-18th-early-19th-century","provider":"The Provence Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}