What is this wooden thingy?

[KC]

This has been passed down through the generations on my better half's side of the family and we found it in a chest with clothing/items from the mid 1800's to 1920's.

It is beautifully carved.  No water stains.  No burn marks.  When I asked my mother-in-law years ago what it was...she would just laugh and said it was something special because the family held on to it!  (Go figure!  When noone know they say this!  LOL)

So, I am putting it out to my trustworthy forum crew.  I have searched for years.

That side of the family has lived in California from the wagon drives westward and Idaho!  

Upon close inspection you can see that it was turned on the bottom...but you can see all the hand worked marks.
Just under 6" in diameter and less than 4" in height.  The inside has a hollow cavity carved out that is approximately the size of a orange and is perfectly smoothed inside. The main part is a solid piece and not pieced together.

[KC]

Here's some more....

[mart]

Ok !!   By your mother in law laughing and simply saying its special,, but not telling you,, My first guess would be something that was used at her wedding or "after" !! There are two openings and grapes (looks like) on top !!   Maybe something they both drank a toast with,,, or ,,,, !!!

[greenacres]

Clever, I would have never thought of that! I was thinking dry because of the wood and no markings inside or out. I thought aromas like lavendar.

[KC]

No, she was laughing because that is what their family did...passed it on and never knew what it was.  Wasn't from their wedding.  We have pics from that.  It is much older than that....from great grandparents generation.  She got it from her grandmother.

I thought it looked like a pouring spout on each as well.  Better half thought it was an ashtray (hello, it would burn up, it's wood and there aren't any burn marks).

[talesofthesevenseas]

My first reaction was an oil lamp, but it can't  be that because it is wood! I have no clue!

[wendy177]

Got it!!! Yours is of course for 2   Mart was on the right track!!  You have what is called a  Grole   I say put it to good use!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grole

[mart]

Ahh Ha !!!  Now we know !!!! 

[KC]

WOW....WOW....WOW!  A whole boat load of Coconuts and Mangos to you Wendy177!  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

We have literally tried for years to find out what this was and really thought we would never find out!!!! 

We heard his Great great great grandparents were from France....and this would match perfect with family history AND the timeline of the items that were in the trunk!!!!! (This was with the items from the 1800's).

I can't say THANK YOU enough.  The MYSTERY IS SOLVED!!!!

[wendy177]

You're welcome KC happy to help, am very curious as to the value I can find no other references to your piece. Will start to look through my library to see if I can find something. Is there someone from a large auction house you know you could contact?? Please let us know if you get any info on value. 

[ghopper1924]

Stylistic clues make me think that this is from the 1870s.

[KC]

Wendy, how in the world did you search for this?  Have any prior idea what it was?

I have since searched and found it is also spelled Grolle and was originally used for religious purposes, then it transcended to drinking a drink similar to brandy, then what is now used for coffee/liquor.  It originated with shepherds is what all references I have found.  It is associated with France and Italy...and have found reference to it using several different names.  Have also found grolla (Italian).

A little on how they are made and cured is very interesting... "gnarly vessel, these friendship pots, called grolla, are iconic symbols of the region. Hand carved from one block of wood then cured for two days submerged in butter, they contain anywhere from 2 to 24 spouts depending on the size of the wood block."

[wendy177]

Honestly KC I had NO clue as to what it was!!!! I just played around with what I put in for a search, and I finally found it with "small shallow covered wood bowl with spouts" Crazy but that's what worked!!  Leave it to the French & Italians to let something sit in butter for 2 days    

[cogar]

In my opinion, one has to try different “words” that describe what you are searching for and/or the same “words” in a different sequence.

I say that because my intuition tells me that all those “search engines” process the “search key” from left-to-right.

In other words, they use the 1st word or 1st noun in the “search key” to locate say 10,000 source documents …. and then use the 2nd word to determine which of those 10K documents to look for the 3rd word, …. and so on and so forth.
 
Thus said, “search keys” of …. “small wood bowl with spouts”, ….. “bowl with spouts wood small” ….. and ….. “bowl small wood with spouts” ….. all get different results.

HA, and that 2nd key above found that “grole” on Wikii for me when I just tried them.

[KC]

I thought I was pretty good in searching items...but this one got the better of me....for a long time.  Thanks alot!

I couldn't believe they aged them in butter!!!  But I guess it gets the oils into the wood...and preserves.  Lots of interesting things done over the years to preserve/protect!

The wood is definitely water repellant unlike any I have seen.  (I know this hasn't been oiled/cared for years-n-years and the water just beads up on it like freshly cared for.  Also, the wood is darkened in an unusual manner....just can't describe it.  It is in excellent shape!