Red Oak Natural Rim Vase from 150 Year Old Tree

To my mind there is something very attractive about the basic bell shape which is just two ogee curves put together.

With the growth rings almost perfectly quarter sawn, it gives the appearance of stacked rings. The sap wood at the top of the bowl has been darkened by spalting and the black at the very top is a small amount of bark that was still adherent.

The timber cutter who gave me this wood was very supportive of my desire to make something useful of this wood which was destined to become firewood. He even offered to get me more wood from his tree cutting activities and we became fast friends over our mutual love of wood.