This is the first authoritative account of the history of the wooden bowl. It details evidence of the turners craft dating back 4000 years, and looks at the development of lathe technology, as well as the tools and timbers used. The author has been given unprecedented access to study and photograph important collections, many of which have never appeared in print before. The superb photographs show priceless, gold-adorned vessels buried with Saxon Kings, Tudor bowls from the wreck of the Mary Rose, and even a bowl which some claim to be the Holy Grail.