To have and to hold

The couple who lovingly make wooden spoons by hand

FOR KAORI TAKAHASHI and Mark Mcgilvray, the wife-and-husband design duo Takahashi Mcgil, making a wooden spoon is a thoughtful, meticulous process. Each spoon is crafted by hand using ancient techniques, resulting in an object that is as appealing to look at as it is to use.

The pair met while studying fine art at Wimbledon School of Art in 2003. Soon after they moved to a village near Torquay in Devon where they now live with their two young children. ‘My parents had moved there,’ says Mcgilvray. ‘It seemed like a better life – and we could afford a flat.’

They both previously worked in retail, but began their business four years ago. ‘We started with furniture, then got into making smaller things, and working with lacquer,’ he explains.

Their studio is within the craft centre at Cockington Court, a manor house near Torquay, set in beautiful grounds, filled with trees. Their design signature is their combination of eastern and western techniques: they travel to Takahashi’s native Japan every year to take a course. Last year, they studied urushi lacquer, which uses tree sap to make the spoons stronger and waterproof.

The wood they use is from a variety of sources: much of it is salvaged from fallen trees on Dartmoor. They always start with the bowl of the spoon, which Mcgilvray carves using a chisel. Then Takahashi delicately chisels the outside of the bowl, and they shape the rest using a plane and a knife.

The imperfect, slightly wonky shapes of the spoons give them their character. ‘When I’m carving the bowl out, I sometimes decide to make the shape a bit weirder, and those are the ones that stand out,’ says Mcgilvray.

Next comes the lacquer, which is imported from Japan. The application is a time-consuming process involving seven or eight coats, each of which has to be cured for at least a day in a curing chamber – a heated wooden box.

The unique look of the spoons appealed to the fashion and homeware brand Toast, which is supporting Takahashi Mcgil by selling its products as part of its New Makers project. The duo also sell through their own website and at craft fairs.

According to Mcgilvray, the spoons are intended to be functional. But considering the time and care that goes into the making of each one, it would seem wrong to consider them anything but works of art. takahashimcgil.com; toa.st

By Jessica Doyle. Photographs by Nicholas JR White From above right Each Takahashi Mcgil spoon is different; the couple in their studio in Devon; Takahashi chiselling the outside of the spoon bowl.