Artistic woodworking is one of the main crafts in the culture of many peoples. Wood is an accessible, easy to process, and durable natural material. The indigenous peoples of the North still use wood to make some types of tableware, utensils, models of traditional vehicles, houses, outbuildings, toys, and musical instruments.

The most commonly used types of wood are birch, cedar, larch, aspen, and pine. Craftsmen choose smooth tree trunks without knots because they are easier to work with. Homemade or purchased axes are used to fell and debark trees. All parts of the tree are used: the trunk is used for construction, roots — for weaving rope, and bark for making various utensils.

Traditionally, women made utensils from birch bark and men from wood. Young boys learned how to handle a knife from childhood, and girls helped women to process birch bark and weave bark boxes and other household items.

Some of the popular types of traditional wooden products include plates, ladles, and cups. Khanty and Mansi plates are usually rectangular with rounded corners. They have a thoroughly processed inner surface and sloping side walls. It is convenient to cool hot meat by placing it on the edges of a plate and collect fat in the center.

The shape and size of Khanty ladles vary, depending on their purpose. All of them have a shallow bowl which is sometimes wide or long. Most ladles have a long handle, which used to be beautifully decorated with three-edged carving — a tradition that has already faded into obscurity. In the past, the tip of the ladle used to be decorated with carved zoomorphic figures, wooden rings, chains, and symbols.

The ladle from the collection of the Ethnographic Museum of the Varyogan Village is made of a solid piece of wood. Its bowl is scoop-shaped. On the inside there are hollowing marks, which create a unique relief pattern. The handle is straight and long. The end of the handle is figured and bent downward. The ladle is painted dark brown, using vegetable pigment. It shows signs of use, including grease, soot, and dirt.