These containers were usually owned by people connected with travelling or agricultural work. They were often given as a wedding present. I met Pierre at the 1997 World Turning Conference in Philadelphia, where he was giving a presentation on drinking flasks. There and there, I resolved to visit Romania's south- western Carpathian city of Slatina to meet, observe and record the skill of Ion Constantin. Zina Burtoiu, and fellow pole lathe turner Robin Wood.
Ion works on a pole lathe in the open air, very much a summer occupation.
When I first met him, in February, his lathe and yard were under a foot of snow. I'm familiar with the pole lathe tradition of turning between centres to produce chair legs, bowls, platters and other domestic treen, but what I saw in Romania was unique to me. Using hook tools hand-forged from steel reinforcing rod, Ion turns hollow flasks on two centres, on a pole lathe, as his ancestors did. A strong wiry man with a ready smile, Ion takes an obvious pride in his work and enjoyed the attention he received from we 'technically advanced' Westerners. His timber comes from local sources, mostly poplar and willow.