SiS: Petrified Wood Log - MASSIVE 9" WOODWORTHIA Fossil Sculpture!

Description

This is one of the single largest perfect specimens of this particular variety of petrified wood I have ever seen, let alone finished!  It's a giant fossil Woodworthia that we've fashioned into a standing sculpture suitable for display in a cabinet, table, mantle or desk.   I've cut a couple of other logs this large but nothing that was this gemmy from this forest.  There's a lot to love revealed in the cut face including bold rays, artistic fortification agate and crystal and even a drusy crystal central cavity with beautiful shimmering botryoidal formations inside it!  It's one of the more artistic and showy of the Zimbabwe, Africa, petrified Woodworthia specimens I've had the pleasure of offering in a couple of years!  The stone has a very high silica content and took a wonderful mirror finish.   The log is naturally articulated on the sides and back, revealing the exterior of the fossil in amazing detail including countless spine scars on the rind.  The base is cut just flat enough for the specimen to stand erect on its own without the need of a stand.  One of my all time favorites in a wonderful display specimen!
This round is from a larger log that still has the stellar rays emanating through the entire round from the spike knots this wood is identified from. In the last couple of years I've started seeing some really fascinating petrified wood coming into the US at the big import shows from Zimbabwe, Africa! The wood is typically green, brown and black and exceptionally well preserved on the exterior. The interior reminds me of a lot of the Utah wood in detail (i.e. it's hit and miss) but the best pieces show beautiful spike knots leading up to the spine bases that coat the exterior logs. You'd recognize these specimens anywhere as the logs are consistently the same colors inside and out, and the exterior is coated with an unmistakable pattern of spine scars. The wood grain itself varies in quality, but the best of these pieces show spike knots in cross section (they look like rays coming from the center of the log) and a good cut will show several of them.
This wood is quite unique and really a much more interesting fossil than most of the woodworthia we get here in the US. The green color is something you have to see in person to understand - it's not really comparable to any other petrified wood and it's difficult to get a representative photograph that really does the color justice. The wood has a reasonably high silica content so we're able to coax a nice polish out of the specimen.
This is one of the few complete rounds I was able to locate that really took a nice polish. If the timeless mystery of this piece isn't enough for you, then I'm certain the simple, natural, gemmy beauty of it will be. The colors are dark and subtle, and the wood grain is unique to this exotic species.
This round is cut from the end of a very solid log. It's really a nice piece, but what else would you expect from a business named "Sticks-in-Stones"?! We've applied all of our considerable lapidary skills to bring out a mirror finish and produce a specimen worthy of display in your own collection. You can also make out some of the spine scars on the edge of the slice.
This piece measures about 8 7/8" x 8 3/8" across the polished face.  Weight is 7.2 lbs.
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