The design of this piece is intentionally simple: a quiet platform that elevates the tea ceremony without distraction. The form exists purely to serve the function. Nothing added, nothing taken away allowing the material to speak.

The photographed piece is crafted from the wood of a naturally felled sycamore tree in Northern California. The character of this material is inseparable from the life it lived: decades of growth, environmental shifts, and the unique terroir of the region shaped the rich colors and flowing grain you see here.

Just as an heirloom vegetable carries the story of its soil and season, this wood bears the marks of time in every line and hue. Unlike farmed lumber or mass-produced materials, this sycamore was never part of a monocrop. Instead, it came to the artisan community through the stewardship of world-renowned California arborists. Working within a network of caretakers who monitor the life cycles of trees, the partners I work with recover extraordinary specimens that have fallen naturally, then season them, sometimes for as long as fifty to sixty years, to bring out their fullest potential. In this way, the wood’s journey remains fully circular, honoring the life of the tree and extending it through craft.