Carved Walnut & Birch Kuksas

Inspiration and Lessons Learned:

While carving this piece, I used a kuksa I picked up in Oulu, Finland as a basic template, attempting to mimic the base and wall thicknesses. My piece from Finland is the overall shape and design typical of modern kuksa examples. In my research after carving this piece, I found that the ‘finger hole’ design used in this piece is found outside of the medieval period, emerging in the later 1700s and continuing today. Of the medieval period examples known, the majority have tab-like handles. I consider this to be a practice piece, which taught me quite a bit about sharpening tools and carving larger pieces. I plan to carve another kuksa with a more medieval tab handle design. After learning more about the Duodji (Sami handcrafts) tradition, I would like to incorporate a design on the handle by kolrosing (cutting the surface of the wood with a knife and rubbing an ash or pigment in, revealing the design.) 

 Hand carving dried walnut wood was slow and an exercise in patience. In future, I'd like to process the wood entirely using hand tools, removing the bandsaw and instead using a hand axe and saw on a larger piece of greenwood  to create the general carving blank. My greatest preference would be to source a birch burl, as the traditional material for the kuksa or guksi cup. However, sourcing fresh greenwood of a suitable size for a kuksa is currently a challenge.

 I used a hook knife to begin hollowing out the bowl of the cup; see image below. Unlike carving my dried walnut kuksa, progress on my greenwood kuksa was much faster. Instead of prying with wood gouges, I was able to hollow the entire bowl of the piece with a hook knife within a week. I continue to expand my understanding of green vs. dried wood as well as wood types.  

 For more detailed carving, including the handle of the kuksa, I used a smaller carving knife. Finally, to finish the piece I hand sanded the piece, going gradually from 220 to 800 grit. I sealed the wood with several coats of walnut oil, a period material, letting it dry for multiple hours between coats. 

The Kuksa in Period: 

A Kuksa cup (also known as a Guksi, Kasa, or Kulska cup) is a traditional hand carved cup, typically constructed of birch burl, carried and used by the Sami people of Scandanavia. The kuksa, typically a small handheld cup or scoop, would be worn on the belt and utilized daily. Uses could include drinking, eating broth or pottages, or a container for gathering berries. The traditional material choice of birch burl was on purpose; the burl would be circular in shape, helping to form the basis of the cup, and the burled wood is slightly stronger than plain birch, providing more structure to the piece. Additionally, burled birch features a variety of interesting hues and colorations, which can be naturally showcased in the carved kuksa. 

The kuksa cup is one small material example of the larger Duodji (or handcrafts) tradition of the arctic Sami people. Their relative isolation for much of their history has led to the development of a distinct and unique handcrafts tradition, with a focus on making useful, utilitarian items that have artistic elements, designed for long lasting use. The arctic environment can be unforgiving and resources scarce; therefore their handicrafts focus on useful items that serve a purpose rather than being primarily decorative or artistic. Function, rather than form, is the primary focus of Duodji objects, with artistic elements such as kolrosing wooden surfaces, scrimshawing bone, and tooling leather to add to the beauty of the object. Much emphasis is placed on use of natural materials and naturalistic motifs in their embellishment of items. 

The kuksa comes in a wide variety of designs and ornamentation. A simple search of the Norsk Folkemuseum for terms such as “kuksa”, “guksi”, or even “kasa” results in an assortment of forms, see below. The kuksa typically consists of a bowled body with some kind of handle; generally the handle is either a wooden tab, often ornamented with some kind of kolrosing design or chip carving. Another common form of handle features finger holes, almost like a coffee cup. This is the handle type I used in my piece. This basic design is very similar to those unearthed by archaeologists in the Oseberg ship, nearly 1100 years old. The handcraft continues to this day, with more modern examples held in the museum’s collections dating from the 1800s to 1970. A kuksa cup can commonly be found for sale in handcrafts stores and market stalls in Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Today’s kuksas are made of a much wider variety of woods, including exotic woods such as olive, mahogany, and even purpleheart, which are not native to Scandanavia. They may also be painted using milk paints to add color, a technique that could have been used in period.

Bibliography: 

Adamson, Paul. n.d. Kuksa - A Guide To Hand Carved Wooden Cups. 2nd ed. https://paul-adamson-craft.myshopify.com/products/new-2nd-edition-on-the-way-very-soon-kuksa-a-guide-to-hand-carved-wooded-cups. ISBN 978-1-3999-4893-7 

Koslin, Desiree. 2010. “The Way of Sami Duodji: From Nomadic Necessity to Trademarked Lifestyle.” Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings, October, https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/30/.

Pierce, John.“Carving a Traditional Burl Kuksa - the Folk School Fairbanks.” 2023. The Folk School Fairbanks. November 28, 2023. https://folk.school/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BurlKuksaTutorialText.pdf. 

Schefferus, Johannes. 1673. Lapponia. https://www.rct.uk/collection/1072047/lapponia.

Vlasatý, Tomáš. 2019. “Drinking Vessels of Viking Norway – Projekt Forlǫg.” August 17, 2019. https://sagy.vikingove.cz/en/drinking-vessels-of-viking-norway/. 

Vlasatý, Tomáš. 2017. “The Man from Voll : An Example of a Well-Preserved

Norwegian Male Grave.” https://www.academia.edu/32458579/The_man_from_Voll_An_example_of_a_well_preserved_Norwegian_male_grave.

Jenni, and Jenni. 2023. “Finnish Kuksa – A Wooden Cup Full of Tradition.” Out in the Nature. September 17, 2023. https://www.outinthenature.com/finnish-kuksa-a-wooden-cup-full-of-tradition/.

“Key Objects Report of From the Living to the Dead Exhibit.” 2021. Museum of the Viking Age. University of Oslo. Accessed February 3, 2024. https://www.vikingtidsmuseet.no/de-nye-utstillingene/key-objects-16.12..2021.pdf.