LOU 414. Museum Specimen. Palmoxylon. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. Full round glassy slice. Perfect. No glue – no fillers. Wide range of colors and excellent cell structures. 13 by 8 cm polished face; 8 mm thick; five ounces. $75
FJD Lou 14. BIG LOG. Museum Specimen. Palmoxylon from The Shreveport Collection. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. This was part of a large collection I bought about two decades ago in Louisiana. Most of the pieces were cut and polished but this was a complete “onion”. The collection is featured in Ancient Forests as The Shreveport Collection. I can’t imagine there was ever a better collection of perfect and beautiful petrified Louisiana palm. After selling the lion’s share of the collection, I still had a few big logs that I assumed were too large for my 24-inch saw to handle. As it turned out, I could just fit this one in. It’s the largest log I have ever cut in 30 years of rock cutting. I had both pieces polished by Mike Hankins. You can see in the images that most of the center is mirror-polished and some all around is matt, lighter, and more porous. [The reflection in one image is the crabapple tree outside my window.] This log is about perfect. No glue and no fillers. Each part alone is spectacular, but one could easily build a stand for it and keep the top on as I demonstrate with scrap wood from my shop. Both faces measure 21 by 26 cm. The small end weighs 19 pounds. The big end overwhelmed and nearly crushed my 70-pound-limit scale. All together it’s about 100 pounds (95-110 pounds is my estimate). $2000
I will not be able to ship this big log, making it one you pick up on your way through Colorado, or you arrange for someone to pick up and ship. It’s too heavy for me to handle in my ripe old years. It’s worth the trip.
LOU 392. Museum Specimen. Palmoxylon. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. Full round glassy slice. Perfect. No glue – no fillers. Nice colors and patterns. 14 by 8.5 cm mirror-polished face; 6 mm thick; 4.8 ounces. $40
LOU 403. Museum Specimen. Palmoxylon. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. Full round glassy slice. Perfect. No glue – no fillers. Excellent color range and cell preservation. 19 by 10 cm mirror-polished face; 11 mm thick; fifteen ounces. $65
LOU 404. Museum Specimen. Palmoxylon. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. Black-hearted palm with exceptionally well-preserved cell structures and a striking balance. Extra glassy. 10 by 22 cm mirror-polished face; 8 mm thick; ten ounces. $70
LOU 411. Museum Quality. Palmoxylon. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. Full round glassy slice with great colors from an old collection. No glue – no fillers. Excellent cell structures. 12 by 26 cm mirror-polished face; up to 8 mm thick; one pound and two ounces. $55
LOU 412. Museum Specimen. Palmoxylon. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. Specimen round thick and glassy longitudinal slice. This is a piece from The Shreveport Collection, a collection featured in Ancient Forests. When I bought the collection, it included some large, uncut logs and this is part of one of those. Perfect. No glue – no fillers. Top grade. 30 by 14 cm mirror-polished face; 25 mm thick; five pounds and eleven ounces. $120
LOU 413. Museum Specimen. Palmoxylon. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. Specimen round thick and glassy longitudinal slice. This is a piece from The Shreveport Collection, a collection featured in Ancient Forests. When I bought the collection, it included some large, uncut logs and this is part of one of those. Perfect. No glue – no fillers. Top grade. 24 by 13 cm mirror-polished face; 23 mm thick; four pounds and three ounces. $100
FJD Lou 15. Museum Specimen. Palmoxylon. Flat Woods, Louisiana. Oligocene. Full round glassy slice with a lot of magic, and it’s not just about the black spot. There’s quite a bit of black palmwood out there, mostly from the Texas side of the Catahoula but also Louisiana sometimes, and when I say black I don’t mean gemmy black like this one, I mean black stuff that won’t take a good polish and turns your saw into a goopy mess. This is the rare good stuff as is the whole piece – super nicely silicified into hard porcelain-like fossil wood. Solid and perfect – no glue – no fillers. Excellent cell structure. 15 by 10 cm mirror-polished face; 6 mm thick; six ounces. $150 SOLD