Every now and then, a piece of wood arrives at my lathe that feels less like a material and more like a presence.
The chatoyance in this piece of wood is off the charts! When you hold it and move it the glow and glimmer shifts across the surface like a river of gold. No picture could ever do this justice so I tried capturing the effect with this video.
This serving platter was turned from ancient swamp kauri, a timber that has rested in New Zealand’s peat bogs for more thousands and thousands of years. Working with it is unlike working with any other wood; it carries a depth, a stillness, and a quiet shimmer that seem to come from another age entirely.
Swamp kauri is one of the rarest timbers on earth. Preserved naturally in oxygen-poor wetlands, it survives millennia without decay, absorbing minerals that give it its characteristic golden glow and pearlescent reflections. Some pieces reveal pale resin streaks—ghostly white lines that trace the tree’s ancient life. When I began turning this platter in my Carcassonne atelier, those shimmering surfaces emerged slowly, as though the wood were remembering its own history.
The density of swamp kauri makes it a joy to shape. It responds cleanly to the gouge, yet its grain shifts unpredictably, revealing curls, ripples, and subtle flame-like patterns. I kept the form simple and generous, allowing the timber’s natural beauty to speak without interruption. The platter’s surface catches the light in a way that feels almost fluid, changing as you move around it.
Finished and polished with carnauba wax, the piece holds a soft, natural sheen—ecological, durable, and respectful of the wood’s organic nature. There is no plastic, no synthetic coating, only a natural product protecting a natural treasure. The platter feels smooth under the hand, yet you can sense the quiet strength of the kauri beneath your fingertips.
Owning a piece like this is not simply owning a serving platter; it is welcoming a fragment of deep time into your home. Its story spans millennia, from ancient forests to the peat bogs of Aotearoa, and now to my workshop in France where it has been shaped into a functional work of collectible wood art.
If its presence resonates with you, I invite you to make it part of your collection or explore the other swamp kauri pieces I’ve had the privilege to turn.
Diameter: 33cm Height: 4cm Weight: 690g
