Trend: Figured Wood Furniture & Decor
Burr walnut, birdseye maple... Decorative woods are making a comeback.
What is figuring?
Figuring refers to the aesthetic of a wood, mainly in relation to the patterns it displays. Figured woods are those woods which have figuring and are decorative woods. Some might argue that almost all wood is figured since most woods have some pattern, but a distinction can be made. Grain is simply the pattern made by the cell structure of a wood and that pattern can be made up of long concentric ripples, neat stripes or something a little more random (like those with knots). Figuring, on the other hand, provides a three-dimensional effect which catches the light quite differently to plain wood grain.
Burl veneer backgammon set
What causes figuring?
Figuring occurs as a combination of the natural qualities of a particular wood—when the usually straight wood grain naturally goes off in a tangent or, surprisingly, because of a disease or abnormalities in the wood—and is highlighted by the way the wood is cut.
Image: PION Studio
Types of figured woods
The most popular types of figuring are: burr, birdseye, quilted, pommele, mottled and flame (also called tiger or fiddleback) with burr and birdseye being the most popular amongst the design set of late.
Burr (sometimes known as burl) is a curled, rounded figure with darkened knot spots. Burr wood is taken from notable growths or deformations in the tree, which are known to be caused by a stressful event in the tree’s life, with the darkened spots being the tree’s dormant buds. Burr wood has a rich aesthetic thanks to its range of warm tones, from a medium to a dark orange-brown, and was a favourite of Mid-century designers.
Burl veneer console