Hand-Carved Wooden Hummingbird Pair on Burl Wood

Description

Perched side by side on a rugged, twin-peaked base of parasite wood, this pair of long-billed birds was carved by hand from solid wood and finished with a warm, honey-toned wash. Look closely and you’ll find the carver’s toolwork still visible in the feather lines etched across each wing and tail, and a tiny painted eye that gives each bird its own quiet expression.

The base beneath them is genuine parasite wood, a dense burl-like growth that forms on the trunks of host trees and keeps its gnarled, cratered shape long after the surrounding wood is gone. Because every burl grows differently, the artisan has to carve and fit each bird to the particular hollows and ridges of that one piece of wood, which means this pairing of birds and base exists in exactly this form only once.

Since the piece is shaped entirely by hand rather than pressed from a mould, you’ll notice small differences between the two birds – a slightly different tilt of the head, a touch more grain showing through the paint on one than the other – which is simply the nature of carving each figure individually. It’s a nice one for someone who prefers a quiet, characterful shelf piece to another generic ornament, whether that’s a birdwatcher, a gardener, or someone setting up a new reading nook.

The Artisan’s Mark

The gnarled base of each piece is genuine parasite wood – a dense, naturally-formed growth that develops on host trees and survives long
after the tree itself decays. No two bases share the same shape, so the artisan carves and mounts each figure to fit its own unique piece
of wood. This means every item is one-of-a-kind before a single cut is even made.