Mixing Bowls: A Short History

Though readers probably don't need a definition of a mixing bowl, here it is anyway: used for food serving and preparing, a bowl is a common, open top container used in most every culture. Bowls come in every shape and size, and are typically small and shallow, though things like large salad bowls and punch bowls are meant to serve a group of people.

Bowls have been around for thousands of years. Very early examples of bowls have been unearthed in China, Ancient Greece, Crete and in many Native American cultures. Modern bowls are made of many materials: ceramic, plastic, wood, metal and others. They can be a single color and material, or a colorful work of art. Handmade ceramic bowls are popular in many places, and antique bowls made of glass from the depression area, vintage forms of plastic and coated in vintage glazes are functional collector's items.

The evolution of the bowl

Archeologists have fond bowls to be an interesting object, and learned that many cultures categorized bowls in a few different groups using the lip, the edge style or the shape. A British or American standard soup bowl, for instance, has a mouth with an 18.5 centimeter diameter. The diameter of most bowls rarely falls under half of its height, both in historical and modern times.

Throughout time, bowls have been used for more than eating. In Ancient Greece, small bowl shaped cups called kylices were used for drinking, and also as a vessel for perfume. In some Mediterranean cultures, bowls were made with a highly sophisticated design sensibility. Chinese pottery, historically, has included some of the most elaborate designs and painted bowls.

Today, dinnerware can be made of earthenware, plastic, porcelain, glass, stoneware or other materials, like melamine or resin. Disposable bowls can be made of paper or thin plastic and high end bowls can be made of wood, metal, stone, pewter and even the most uncommon materials, like ivory or bone.