23 pieces
1. Hubbard Basin. Full round conifer slice. Beautiful flat polish by a top tier Oregon lapidary. Colors and pattern are distinctly Hubbard Basin – a stunning compilation of glassy colors. Appears in Ancient Forests at page 241 as a full page image. Almost round at 20 by 22 cm; 12 mm thick; one pound and fourteen ounces.
2. Cherry Creek. Full round conifer slice. Gorgeous colors predominately ivory and salmon in an eye-catching pattern comprising many growth rings. From an old collection. This is a specimen that wood collectors worldwide will recognize as Cherry Creek, Nevada. No glue or fillers. 26 by 13 mm polished face; 2 cm thick; two pounds and eight ounces.
3. Hubbard Basin. Full round conifer slice. All of the possible Hubbard colors in one beautiful piece. No glue or filler. 25 by 12 cm polished face; 3 cm thick; three pounds and fifteen ounces.
4. Nevada 1. Goldfield. Cupressinoxylon. Tertiary. Full round log, cut on both ends and polished on one. Beautiful exterior with a rich patina and attractive mineralization with some well-preserved cell structures, a nice variety of crystalline structures, and pastel accents. No glue or filler. 27.5 cm long; 7 by 9.5 cm polished face; six pounds and ten ounces. See footnotes.
5. Hubbard Basin. Tertiary. Elko County. Striking longitudinal board cut with knot. Juniper. Cupressinoxylon. 17 by 20 cm polished face; 1 cm thick; one pound and eight ounces.
6. Cherry Creek. Kalamazoo Creek Tuff Formation, Oligocene. This is in Ancient Forests on page 242. I recall the day I got it in a hotel parking lot tent during the Denver shows. Incredibly perfect and solid full round. My guess is it’s the base of a tree including the root line and numerous roots. Full round log, cut and polished on both ends. Glassy throughout. Colors – design – quality make it a top Cherry Creek specimen. No glue or filler. 12 cm tall; 14 by 7 and 10.5 by 5.5 cm polished faces; five pounds and fourteen ounces.
7. Hubbard Basin. Tertiary. Elko County. Full round limb that looks as if it were ripped violently from the tree. Cupressinoxylon. 9 by 8 cm domed polished face, otherwise all natural. 11 cm tall; four pounds and eight ounces. Prepared by my friend Phil in Oregon, the only major wood dealer I know who uses polishing wheels as opposed to a flat lap of some sort (vibratory or rotary lap or corundum belt). Killer piece. You cannot resist caressing the smooth, polished face. Good example of why a three dimensional specimen can tell far more of a story that can a slice. No glue or filler.
8. Hubbard Basin. Cupressinoxylon. Full round slice. Beautiful flat polish by a top tier Oregon lapidary. Colors and pattern are an excellent representation for Hubbard Basin wood. Small limbs were rare. 11 by 12 cm polished face; 1 cm thick; nine ounces.
9. Little Humboldt River area. Tertiary. As I heard it as a firsthand account, when the first rockhounds found this remote and inhospitable high desert environment, small, petrified stumps were lined up along a single horizon as if it were once a shoreline. Years later I was told (firsthand) that wood hunters dug holes large enough to fit a pickup truck in search for this beautiful wood. This specimen is in a rare state for petrified wood. It’s a full round stump, all natural but for one cut and polished face, which offers clues to its history. It seems to have desiccated prior to fossilization as evidenced by the wedge of transparent chalcedony along an edge. The cellular material is macerated. Remarkably perfect. 6 by 6.5 cm polished face; 14.5 cm long; two pounds and ten ounces.
10. Goldfield. Cupressinoxylon. Full round limb, cut on both ends and polished on one. This is the other piece I acquired from the pickup load in Nevada 1 (see above.) I got this several years later. As I recall it, this was the best quality of the wood from the pickup truck. I had something he wanted, so we agreed to cut about a quarter of it for the trade. I know I’ve had it a while since it’s in my first book, Petrified Wood, published in 1998. Abundant beauty and awe. Excellent mineralization, colors, and design. No glue or filler. 10 cm tall; 5.5 by 9.5 cm polished face; one pound and twelve ounces.
11. Little Humboldt River area. Captivating full round, cut on both ends and polished on one. Unusual and striking mineralization. The more translucent and darker area near the center contains a few wispy black tracheid remnants. Just next to that is cell material good enough to identify as ring porous hardwood. Exterior exceptional with knots and character. No glue or filler. 6 by 6.5 cm polished face 7.5 cm tall; eleven ounces.
click for Nevada. page 2