Woodenware by Masahiro Endo

Some beautiful wooden objects by Japanese woodworker and designer Masahiro Endo, he’s been on my watch list for quite a while and I’ve had his personal website bookmarked for a later date. Today seems like a good day to have a browse through the portfolio and talk about some interesting elements regarding his work, specifically those wonderful handmade touches.

Masahiro makes a living from his workshop named TURN producing objects like wooden boards, plates and bowls, but interestingly he also makes some more obscure items. Ones that caught my attention were the sugar pots with their amazing wooden spoons, seen a few images down, also the lampshade which is totally different to anything I’ve really seen before. Obviously the more functional items usually have a specific shape which is hard to break away from, but I like the fact that Endo has put his own touches on the pieces. Take for example the cutting board, he’s really done a great job at getting the grain of the wood to come through and he’s cut some interesting shapes which are quirky and different. I have to revert back to the bowls to tell you about my favourite pieces though, they can be seen above and below, I’m absolutely loving the handmade marks all over them. The above one is so perfect and clean but it’s quite odd since the depth of the bowl is higher than usual which gives it a weird but fascinating dimension. The below bowls are on the quirky side and would be great sitting on a shelf as a sculptural piece.

As you can tell I’m pretty much in love with these, it’s great to see such a natural material turned into a beautiful functional item. I’ve seen many good woodworkers over the last few months but Masahiro captured my attention immediately and I was drawn to his work in all kinds of ways, I hope you are too. If you’re not busy I’d suggest going to his website to have a look at his other work, he’s also got a great blog where he takes images of his wooden pieces being used in restaurants and other homes.

www.endomasahiro.com

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