This primitive Colonial carved wooden shovel was carved from one piece of wood that looks like black walnut, and it is 44 1/2” long.  It is interesting to me that this home made shovel shows, and if it is an example of black walnut , that it was available and a commonly used wood for daily uses back in early America, when forests were plentiful, and walnut wood was not regarded as a valuable wood to be saved for special uses, as today.  Walnut was used for everything in early America, for tools, fence rails to gun stocks to house building.  I once saw an old barn that had used black walnut wood for the support beams and construction.  This spade shovel was made from a solid piece of wood that was available to make the tool needed, as this shovel reveals as an example.  This rare, 18th century to early 19th century folk art piece has a nice patina showing its rich-brown heartwood.  There is one stable crack in the tip of the shovel. (C-1040)