A Poem and Letter of Appreciation

Bowl

For Tony Jones

Walnut wood not only has its grain,

the darker thin striations of the tree’s years

within that tawny ground, striped from a blush

of almost pale-rose pink to palest wheatstraw–

waves tugged like isobars around knots

of high pressure where branches began –

pitted with tiny pin-pricks that shoal

against the tide; it also has transverse

stripes of subtle dark and pale, visible

only at an angle to the light,

that defy the eye with a sense of

undulation that is not there beneath

the touch: once it has been sanded silky

smooth as is this perfect bowl. I found

this bowl in England’s most un-English church:

amidst the loud discordant roar of

lavish decoration in Baroque

declaration of wealth and power

to the glory of a God that had made

all this possible. And surely some hand

of inspiration had guided the hand

that lovingly crafted this perfect bowl

of walnut wood: so thin, so strong, so perfect

in its execution; its chaliced

profile lipped and based with confidence

and delicacy; its stroked sound a whisper

of the tree it once was and the life of

the man who made it. Thirty years

in the police force, he said, then I suffered

a stroke on holiday in France; and

retirement offered the chance to regain

the pleasure he’d had as a boy with his

father, messing about with an old lathe

they didn’t really understand. And now

his hand, self-taught he said, made bowls and plates

of ash and sycamore, oak and walnut:

perfect pieces radiant with contentment

for their maker and owners alike.

I told him I would give it as a present

after enjoying it myself for a while,

but already I enjoy it too much

ever to let it go. I love this small bowl,

sixteen centimetres across: so lovely

that not all the gilt and ornate plasterwork

and overstated portraiture of

Baroque superfluity can speak

so loudly or so true

of what a mortal man can do.

31.8.12

Tony Walton

LETTER RECEIVED FOLLOWING DEMO AT WOOODWORKERS WORKSHOP OCTOBER 2025:-

Hi Tony

My wife and I were at the Woodworkers Workshop on Saturday and we sat and watched your demonstration. We thought you were great how you explained everything you did and the I learnt so much in the short time we were there about turning and finishing. My wife was so amazed with the finish on that bowl it was like glass. Anyway just wanted to let you know what a good time we had and thank you for all the advice. 

You take care now and hope to catch another of your demonstrations in the future.

Thanks

Del B