Lot #542. Birdseye Maple and Walnut Burl Premium Chessboard
Birdseye Maple and Walnut Burl Premium Chessboard.
A Birdseye Maple and Walnut Burl Premium Chessboard with raised 2-1/2″ squares of Birdseye Maple and Walnut Burl with a solid Walnut Burl frame. The chessboard measures 27″ Square. This Premium Chess Board with its unique raised playing field design was designed and crafted by David DeCristoforo. The chessboard is in like-new condition and is accompanied by a custom-made protective brown soft cotton slip-case. The back of the frame is signed by the craftsman. Our complete line of Antique, Custom and Luxury chessboards can be found here.
The famous Birdseye Maple of the Sugar Maple, used for the frame of this chessboard, superficially resembles the wood of a burl, but is something else entirely. Birdseye Maple is not technically a distinct species of Maple, but rather, it’s a figure that’s occasionally found in Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) trees. The eyes reportedly caused by unfavorable growing conditions for the tree. The Maple attempts to start numerous new buds to get more sunlight, but with poor growing conditions the new shoots are aborted, and afterward a number of tiny knots remain.
Walnut burl is a very expensive, classic beauty. It is used on everything from fine furniture to automobiles. A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be caused by an injury, virus or fungus. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over. Such burls sometimes appear as groups of bulbous protrusions connected by a system of rope-like roots. Almost all burl wood is covered by bark, even if it is underground. Insect infestation and certain types of mold infestation are the most common causes of this condition.
