XL Fiddleback Silver Maple Bowl with Mahogany Stitches

Wow. Stunning Silver Maple wooden bowl made from an urban Colorado tree. This bowl has a lot of Fiddleback figure throughout (Fiddleback is also called Tiger Stripe or Curly figure) which shimmers in the light. It might look bumpy but that's just the way the light reflects off the grain, it's perfectly smooth. The pictures show the incredible figure from all 4 sides. I pulled out all the stops with this bowl. What makes this bowl special is the large crack and what I did with it. To stabilize the crack and strengthen the bowl I added Mahogany wooden "stitches" or splines across the crack. You need not baby it, it's plenty strong now. There was another small crack on the rim and part way down the edge. For this I put in small Koa splines on the side and top, and for the top I placed them in an "X" pattern. You can just start to see one of the "X" splines poke through the side of the rim. The large crack went down to the bottom, so to strengthen the base I glued on a solid piece of Mahogany to match the stitches. The Mahogany base is attached with mortise and tenon joinery which is very strong. The Mahogany base acts like a pedestal to lift the bowl off the table, but also ties in well with the stitches and completes the look. There are several pieces of light and dark veneer between the foot and bowl to give definition and add detail. This is a large bowl measuring 13-3/4" diameter x 5-7/8" tall. It has a food safe Danish Oil finish on it, but I doubt you would want to use this bowl to serve food. I think it deserves a place of honor gracing the center of your dining table, as an extraordinary fruit bowl, or wherever you want to show off and impress. Hand wash only, use and care instructions are provided.