This bowl has been turned from what my wood dealer describes as “Exhibition Quality” Caro Walnut, and indeed I’ve never work with a finer example of this gorgeous wood. Walnut [Juglans nigra] is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of North America. Black Walnut—especially in its figuredforms—is a beautiful, deeply colored wood that works well with other woods. It is moderately dense and fine-grained. But Claro Walnut is a distinctive sub-species and a much more highly figured and dramatically colored wood. It also frequently—as here—has chatoyance, a beautiful iridescent optical reflection found in certain gemstones and woods.
