{"product_id":"the-gathered-thread-white-mulberry-whiskey-cup","title":"The Gathered Thread — White Mulberry Whiskey Cup","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Gathered Thread\u003c\/strong\u003e is a one-of-one White Mulberry whiskey cup shaped by several kinds of gathering: wood, knowledge, process, and time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhite Mulberry has been part of another kind of gathering for centuries. Its leaves were gathered to feed silkworms, beginning a process that depended not only on the tree itself, but on accumulated human knowledge — when to gather the leaves, how to tend the silkworms, when to collect the cocoons, and how to reel their filaments into silk.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA ca. 1595 work in the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt collection documents that process visually, including the gathering of mulberry leaves, feeding of silkworms, and reeling of silk. In a way, it is an early process story: a sequence of images used to preserve and communicate how something was made. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.si.edu\/object\/heating-and-preparing-cocoons-reeling-silk-above-left-drying-mulberry-leaves-below-left-gathering%3Achndm_1901-39-297\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eExplore the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt sericulture study.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eStory \/ Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis White Mulberry came from wood I gathered locally, but the more important gathering behind this piece was knowledge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter watching another turner take a small log, reorient it, round it, and then turn the vessel from the side, I began experimenting with some of the wider Mulberry branches I already had on hand. That change in orientation revealed something I had not been seeing in more conventional forms: broad concentric heartwood rings on opposing faces, surrounded by dramatically lighter sapwood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe technique did not determine the final shape, but it opened up a new way of reading the wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is a personal thread in those rings as well. I am legally blind, and over time my visual field has narrowed through progressively smaller circles toward the center. It is only one thread in the story, but the rings revealed in this White Mulberry carry an unexpected resonance for me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAbout This Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Gathered Thread is hand-turned from White Mulberry (\u003cem\u003eMorus alba\u003c\/em\u003e) and measures approximately \u003cstrong\u003e3-1\/4 inches tall by 3-1\/2 inches wide\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnlike the more rounded whiskey cups I have made using this method, this piece was given a broader, more squared profile. That shape gives the concentric growth rings room to become a dominant visual feature while allowing the lighter sapwood to sweep around the remaining sides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeen from one direction, the heartwood reads almost like a series of expanding circles. Turn the cup, and those rings give way to pale sapwood, darker boundaries, and irregular natural markings that make each face feel different from the last.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe three making videos included with this piece show the turning process in sequence — a modern counterpart, in a small way, to the centuries-old visual process record linked above.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDetails\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHand-turned White Mulberry (\u003cem\u003eMorus alba\u003c\/em\u003e)\u003cbr\u003eApprox. 3-1\/4\" tall × 3-1\/2\" wide\u003cbr\u003eOne of one\u003cbr\u003eNatural heartwood and sapwood contrast\u003cbr\u003ePart of \u003cstrong\u003eThe Gathering\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gentry Crafted","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49069265486079,"sku":"GCMulberryGatheredThreadWC","price":78.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0702\/2808\/2943\/files\/The-Gathered-Thread-IMG_03510-final.jpg?v=1789062702","url":"https:\/\/gentrycrafted.com\/products\/the-gathered-thread-white-mulberry-whiskey-cup","provider":"Gentry Crafted","version":"1.0","type":"link"}