Australian Red Mallee Burl Wood Bowl (BW125)

Here is an example of why Red Mallee is one of my favorite burl species, with its remarkable heartwood and sapwood colors and figure. It's simply beautiful. This bowl features the rich red tones Red Mallee is noted for, with light sapwood outline; great birdseye figure; the natural edge of the rim; and some of the natural burl spikes on the underside.  Tung oil varnish is the finish, buffed and polished with hard carnauba wax to a soft, marble-like semi-gloss lustre.  Overall length is 15 inches, width 12 inches, height 11/4 inches. The bowl hollow is 41/4 in diameter.     Price: $420 Shipping: $15 to U.S. destinations. Contact me for international rates.

Bimble Box is a very pretty Eucalyptus species (dense and hard), as this burl bowl shows. It has a honey gold heartwood color, with a splash of creamy tan sapwood in the center. Scattered small voids (typical of burls) have been filled with a royal blue inlay (visible in the zoomed-in views). The rim has a partial natural edge. The finish is several coats of tung oil varnish, which was buffed and polished with hard carnauba wax to a soft, satin lustre. Diameter: 111/4 inches    Height:  21/8 inches      Price: $295 Shipping: $12 to U.S. destinations. Contact me for international rates.

If you've ever seen New England fall foliage, you'll see why this one-of-a-kind bowl earns the name "October Fire". As soon as I saw this burl in it's raw state, I recognized its shape as a classic Red Maple leaf, and I hoped it would have outstanding color and figure. Well, I was thrilled with what I found as I turned it, and its name came to mind instantly.  Red Morrel is another Australian Eucalyptus species, as pretty as they come. The honey colored margins of this leaf bowl frame the autumn red/bronze heartwood, with its birdseyes and undulating figure. The natural spiky protrusions of the bark side of the burl have mostly been turned away on the bowl's underside, except around the rim. The finish is several coats of a durable wipe-on varnish, which was buffed and polished with hard carnauba wax to a smooth semi-gloss. The diameter is 12 inches, height 2 inches; the hollow is 5 inches in diameter, 11/2 inches deep. Sorry, this one is sold.

Here is a beautiful New England Black Cherry burl bowl with all the features that make Black Cherry burl the king of North American burl woods, from its rich, warm Cherry coloring to its dozens of birdseyes, wavy grain lines, and bark inclusions (click on the last photo for a closeup). Black Cherry is the prized species that fine American furniture is made of. This burl was one of several I obtained from the stash of an elderly woodturner who has passed on; they have been aging in his 200-year-old country hay barn for many years, and have taken on the color that only aged Black Cherry wood has. Turning these old burls is still pure pleasure- the sweet fragrance of Cherry wood fills the air when the shavings fly. Hand-turned on the lathe, it measures 12-1/2 inches in diameter, 4 inches tall. There is a slight flare around the rim, a little detail that helps when picking up the bowl. Look no further for a classic American display piece or table centerpiece. The finish is multiple coats of urethane oil, buffed and polished with carnauba wax to a glass-smooth, soft satin sheen.  Sorry, this one is sold.

Weeping Cherry is an ornamental landscape tree. Its wood is lighter in weight and color than Black Cherry; it has a pleasing golden glow, and makes a fine bowl with warmth and prominent figure. Its color will gradually deepen with age. Picture a mound of freshly picked red apples in it on your table. After several coats of finish were applied, it was buffed and polished with hard carnauba wax to a smooth-as-glass sheen. Diameter: 12 inches    Height: 4-3/4 inches      Price: $275 Shipping: $15 to U.S. destinations. Contact me for international rates.

New England's Connecticut River Valley is home to some fine Silver Maple trees, whose roots soak up water along the river's floodplains. When one of these old timers goes down, its wood is quickly attacked by various fungi, which produce the elegant, black spalting lines as they feed on the wood's sugars. Highly prized by woodturners, spalted wood is one of nature's gifts, and provides endless fascination to those who appreciate the objects made from it. This bowl is a nice example of spalted Silver Maple, with spalt lines throughout. It's always fun to find what your imagination can discover in the random line drawings. I can see a flying duck inside this bowl .. can you find it in the photos? Several coats of semi-gloss finish protect this piece, and it was buffed and polished with hard carnauba wax for a silky soft feel. Diameter: 13 inches    Height: 5-1/4 inches      Price: $300 Shipping: $15 to U.S. destinations. Contact me for international rates.

Also known as "White Walnut", the Butternut tree is a relative of the Black Walnut. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find in the New England forests, and everywhere else throughout its range, due to the puzzling spread of the Butternut Canker fungus, which kills it. Sadly, it may be headed for the endangered species list. This bowl was hand turned on the lathe from one of those trees that had died. One of the characteristics of Butternut wood is the scalloped shape of its annual rings, which results in an interesting grain pattern. You can see it in several of the photos (click on them to enlarge). This is a handsome example of a bowl made from a wonderful North American species that is going the way of the Chestnut, Elm, and others. Lustrous finish; buffed and polished. Diameter: 13 inches    Height:  5 inches      Price: $325 Shipping: $15 to U.S. destinations. Contact me for international rates.

It's a treat to work Sassafras wood, because it has a great, spicy fragrance that quickly fills the shop. Here in the forests of Western Massachusetts, we don't usually find large Sassafras trees; most are a foot or less in diameter. But I was fortunate to find a 15-inch tree that had been down on the ground for years. While its sapwood was rotted, the heartwood was in perfect condition, and it yielded this 13-1/2 inch bowl. There is a large, sound knot that provides a focal point in the side of the bowl, and there is a bead turned into the top of the rim. The bowl has a very smooth, lustrous finish, which has been buffed and polished. Diameter: 13-1/2 inches    Height:  4-1/4 inches      Price: $325 Shipping: $15 to U.S. destinations. Contact me for international rates.

If you're searching the market for a large Black Cherry burl bowl, you may have just found it. This New England beauty has rich, warm Cherry coloring, scores of birdseyes, bark inclusions, and some small, shallow worm holes and voids (none penetrate the bowl). Black Cherry is the prized species that fine American furniture is made of. This burl was another of several I obtained from the hay barn of a country woodturner who has passed on; they've been aging for many years, and have the rich color that only aged Black Cherry wood has. Hand-turned on the lathe, it measures 14-1/2 inches in diameter, 5 inches tall... nicely sized for a country table centerpiece, or a corporate lobby display piece. The finish is multiple coats of urethane oil, buffed and polished with carnauba wax to a glass-smooth, soft satin sheen.      Price: $425 Shipping: $20 to U.S. destinations. Contact me for international rates.

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