SiS: ANCIENT LIVE OAK Swartz Canyon Petrified Wood Specimen - Unusual Species
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:44333921 |
If you come out on top in this auction, you will be rewarded by an attracitve, well preserved and unusual petrified wood treasure! While this is indeed a fossil oak, it's clearly not the red oak and white oak species that is typically found in this location. It's a delicately preserved, gemmy fossil with all of the structure present to help identify it, including the medullary rays and the characteristic rising bubble pattern in the pores.... It's a beautiful ancient hardwood preserved in very solid agate with the gemmy face polished to a beautiful shine. The outside is a combination of the nicely articulated husk and rough weathered stone that only begins to hint at this fossils age. The base is cut flat to stand as shown without the need for a stand. Swartz Canyon is one of Oregon's "old" collecting areas that is no longer available to rockhounds to hunt on. It's all been privately developed and there is no more digging to be done. What exists in the collections of old timers is all that is likely to ever be available for collectors. This desolate Central Oregon canyon has produced some of the finest fossil oak trees ever found anywhere, rivaled only by the Stinking Water specimens of far Eastern Oregon. The incredible preservation of the red and white oak trees combined with the gorgeous red and chocolate colors make this one of the most sought after fossil woods in our state (where we have a lot to choose from!) This exceptional specimen was found in the "rock pile" of an estate we were lucky enough to get in on. It wasn't until I cut it that I realized it was not an oak tree, but some other kind of hardwood. I've been through my reference books and while I can say that it is a diffuse porous hardwood, I cannot say which one. It might be beech, but it's hard to say for certain without taking section from other directions. This standup specimen is not the typical classic Swartz with the coffee, brown, red and black colors and the characteristic wood grain so perfectly preserved. Like most of the Swartz oak petrified wood, this piece is very highly agatized! The high agate content means that this piece has polished up beautifully. It's just amazing how beautiful petrified wood can be when properly polished, and the fine oak specimens found in this remote desert location are among the finest in the world. This piece has fabulous medullary rays that you can see with the naked eye. The heart is absent in this piece, but you can tell it would have been outer edge of the true based on both the white bark and the pattern of the rays. The wood grain is very visible in this piece. This is a nice, hefty specimen from what must have been an absolutely gigantic tree! This is an unusual but very appealing cut for petrified wood, and the shape makes it suitable for display on a mantle or table. This piece stands about 3" tall and measures approx. 6 1/4" wide on the polished face. Weight is right at 1 lb. A nice, unique naturally wonderful stone collectible exclusively from Sticks-in-Stones Lapidary.
