David Warther Carvings & Gift Shop — Local services in Dover

An Unforgettable Experience of Art, Craftsmanship, and Heritage

Visiting David Warther’s Carvings and Gift Shop was one of the most unexpectedly delightful stops on our recent Ohio trip. Nestled in the heart of Amish Country, this gem offers a rare combination of artistic brilliance, historical storytelling, and genuine hospitality.

The highlight, without a doubt, is David Warther’s incredible collection of ship carvings. Each piece is carved from ivory and ebony with meticulous attention to detail—an astonishing body of work chronicling the history of shipbuilding from ancient Egypt to modern times. David himself was on-site, graciously taking time to answer questions and share the stories behind his work. His passion and knowledge truly bring the pieces to life.

The museum is thoughtfully laid out and family-friendly, with clear timelines and interpretive displays that make it accessible even if you’re not a history buff. Younger kids and adults alike will be fascinated by the precision and creativity on display.

The gift shop is a treasure in its own right. It offers a beautiful selection of locally made Amish goods, unique handcrafted items, toys, and keepsakes—far more than the usual tourist fare. Prices were fair, and the staff was incredibly kind and helpful.

This experience far exceeded our expectations. It’s more than just a museum or a shop—it’s a celebration of craftsmanship, history, and the enduring power of human creativity. Whether you’re a lover of maritime history, fine art, or simply looking for something different and inspiring, David Warther Carvings is a must-visit.

Highly recommend spending at least an hour or two here—you’ll leave feeling enriched and inspired. A true five-star experience!

The only thing I would add is maybe having some wood...

I personally am not a fan of this museum.

Mr. Warther is a talented carver and I applaud him for turning his passion in a lucrative money making business. The website advertises his carving family history and talks about the “Amish Country”.

My experience: Showed up over and hour be for closing. They had already quit giving tours. They said we could look through the gift shop and they would answer any questions. Okay. Other than Mr. Warthers DVD, the gift shop really did not have anything that related to the museum. I ask if he sold works of art any where they told us no and that all works were owned by the corporation and could not be sold. There was nothing there discussing why the corporation exists except to further Mr. Warther’s work. The was nothing to discuss any community or history or artistic endeavors they were involved in.

In a nut shell what I got out of this is Mr. Warther is a talented carver and he developed this “museum” as a way to follow his passion and make a good living as a carver. On top of this he chose ivory as a medium which is controversial. This seems kind of self serving for an artist. Maybe if I would have went on the tour I might have a different view.?

Personally I was not inspired and I would not recommend this museum. Instead I would suggest the history museums in Sugar Creek and leave them a...

We loved the original one so we thought we would vist this one. We did not have time for the tour so we just did the gift shop. We were looking at the knives. After spending a while deciding on the knives we wanted we got to pick them out. We were able to decide on the handles we liked. All was good until the next morning we were packing to leave the area and make the 2hr drive home and noticed the one knife had the wrong knife in it, the box said serrated tomato knife but it was not serrated. We took it back to the store to find out that the price on the top of the box was for the non serrated and the bottom was the serrated. We then got the correct knife, the charged us the difference (even though that was a lot of confusion and super inconvient for us). We ended up getting another knife while there to make the trip worth it. They seemed more worried about who's fault it was than making it right for us the consumer. I so far love the knives and plan on others in the future but just felt kinda meh about...