A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a

spherical cap In geometry, a spherical cap or spherical dome is a portion of a sphere or of a ball (mathematics), ball cut off by a plane (mathematics), plane. It is also a spherical segment of one base, i.e., bounded by a single plane. If the plane passes thr ...

, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve. This makes bowls especially suited for holding

liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

s and loose food, as the contents of the bowl are naturally concentrated in its center by the force of

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

. The exterior of a bowl is most often round, but can be of any shape, including

rectangular In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90 ...

. The size of bowls varies from small bowls used to hold a single serving of food to large bowls, such as punch bowls or

salad bowl A salad bowl is a bowl-shaped serving dish used to serve salads, especially tossed salads. Materials Salad bowls may be made of any of the usual materials used for tableware, including ceramics, metal, plastic, glass, or wood. Salad bowls ca ...

s, that are often used to hold or store more than one portion of food. There is some overlap between bowls,

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

s, and

plates Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...

. Very small bowls, such as the tea bowl, are often called cups, while plates with especially deep wells are often called bowls. In many cultures, bowls are the most common kind of vessel used for serving and eating food. Historically, small bowls were also used for serving both

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

and

alcoholic drink Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

s. In

Western culture Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...

plates and cups are more commonly used.

Background

Modern bowls can be made of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

, and other materials. Bowls have been made for thousands of years. Very early bowls have been found in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

and in certain

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

cultures. In

Ancient Greek pottery Pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exerted a dispro ...

, small bowls, including phiales and

patera In the material culture of classical antiquity, a ''patera'' () or ''phiale'' ( ) is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation ('' omphalos'', "belly button") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, ...

s, and bowl-shaped cups called kylices were used. Phiales were used for

libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...

s and included a small dent in the center for the bowl to be held with a finger, although one source indicates that these were used to hold

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

rather than

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

. Some

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

examples from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

manifest elaborate decoration and sophistication of design. For example, the

bridge spouted vessel A bridge-spouted vessel is a particular design of ewer (jug or pitcher) originating in antiquity; there is typically a connecting element between the spout and filling aperture, and the spout is a completely independent aperture from the usuall ...

design appeared at the

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

site of

Phaistos Phaistos (, ; Ancient Greek: , , Linear B: ''Pa-i-to''; Linear A: ''Pa-i-to''), also Transliteration, transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Latin Phaestus, is a Bronze Age archaeological site at modern Faistos, a municipality in south centr ...

. In the 4th millennium BC, evidence exists that the

Uruk culture The Uruk period (; also known as Protoliterate period) existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, after the Ubaid period and before the Jemdet Nasr period. Named after the Sumerian city ...

of ancient

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

mass-produced

beveled rim bowl Beveled rim bowls (traditionally called Glockentöpfe) are small, undecorated, mass-produced clay bowls most common in the 4th millennium BC during the Late Chalcolithic period. They constitute roughly three quarters of all ceramics found in Uru ...

s of standardized sizes. Moreover, in

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

pottery, there are many elaborately painted bowls and other vessels dating to the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period. , the oldest bowl found is 18,000 years old. In examining bowls found during an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

dig in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, the

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

Vincas Steponaitis defines a bowl by its dimensions, writing that a bowl's

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...

rarely falls under half its height and that historic bowls can be classified by their edge, or lip, and shape.

Communal bowl

In many cultures, food and drink are shared in a communal bowl or cup. In

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, the name of the town of

Bandiagara Bandiagara () is a small town and urban commune in the Mopti Region of Mali. The name translates roughly to "large eating bowl"—referring to the communal bowl meals are served in. Mainly on its Bandiagara Escarpment it has about 2,000 speakers ...

() refers to the

communal bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve ...

meals are served in. The name translates roughly to "large eating bowl." In

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, sadza is traditionally eaten from a

, a tradition that is still maintained by some families, mainly in rural areas. Lakh is a popular boiled porridge made with rolled millet flour pellets (araw/arraw) typically topped at serving with sweetened fermented milk. It is usually served in a communal bowl or platter (dishware), platter in Senegal. In Customs and etiquette in Chinese dining, China, it is considered rude and unhygienic for a diner to use his or her own chopsticks to pick up food from

s and plates when such utensils are present. In some cultures, the communal bowl has a set of social strictures, as evidenced by the Spanish idiom, "¿Cuándo hemos comido en el mismo plato?" (English: When have we eaten from the same dish?).

Gallery

File:A Replica of Arjan bowl.jpg, Ancient Iranian bowl called Jam-e Arjan File:Phoenician - Bowl with Hunting Scene - Walters 57705.jpg, A Phoenician metal bowls, Phoenician silver bowl showing a hunting scene, found in Palestrina File:Bowl MET DP243440 (cropped).jpg, Ancient Egyptian bowl; 200–150 BC; faience; ; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) File:Clevelandart 1949.561.jpg, Nasca culture, Nasca bowl; c. 100 BC; earthenware with colored slips; diameter: 12.8 × 17.7 cm; overall: 13 cm; from Peru; Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.) File:Roman, 1st century - Ribbed Glass Bowl - 2009.474 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, Roman Empire, Roman ribbed bowl; 1st century AD; glass; diameter: 6.5 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art File:Southwest, Mogollon, Mimbres, Pre-Contact Period, 11th-12th century - Bowl with Pronghorn Antelope and Geometric Design - 1930.50 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, Mogollon culture, Mogollon bowl with a pronghorn antelope and geometric designs; 1000–1150; earthenware; diameter: 31.2 cm, overall: 12.5 × 32 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art File:Korea, Goryeo period - Bowl with Lotus Petal Design in Relief - 1942.721 - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg, Korean bowl with a lotus petal design in relief; 1100 (Goryeo period); porcelain celadon ware; Cleveland Museum of Art File:China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Qing dynasty (1644-1912), Yongzh - Bowl - 1940.956 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, Chinese bowl; 1723–1735 (Qing dynasty); porcelain with doucai decoration; diameter: 11.8 cm, overall: 6.4 cm; from the Jiangxi province (China); Cleveland Museum of Art File:Bowl (jatte à anses relevées or jatte écuelle) MET DP169254 (cropped).jpg, French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical bowl (jatte à anses relevées or jatte écuelle); 1787–1788; hard-paste porcelain; overall: 7.6 × 25.4 × 19.1 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Derby (Crown Derby Period) - Bowl from Dessert Service- Smaller Yellow Lily - 1989.189.20 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, Bowl, part of an English dessert service; c. 1800; porcelain; diameter: 22.8 cm, overall: 5 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art File:Khalili Collection Islamic Art pot 1556.1.jpg, 10th century bowl from Nishapur, Iran. Decorated in folk style, depicting Buraq. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Khalili Collection. File:Bowl Depicting King Zahhak with Snakes Protruding from His Shoulders MET sf64-274-3c.jpg, 12th–13th century bowl depicting King Zahhak with snakes protruding from his shoulders, likely from Northwestern Iran. Modified , as many medieval pieces were to make them more attractive. File:Late 1800s wooden bowl Solberga parish Kungaelv municipality Sweden.jpg, Late 19th century wooden bowl from Kungälv municipality, Sweden File:Cat food (pellets and water).jpg, Pet bowls, which are designed to be used by domestic animals such as dogs or cats

Notes

References

* * *

External links