Elm burr plate

[Les Symonds]

This is another of the items for the new shop-order that I recently secured. I got the piece of elm burr from a lady who was selling her late-brother's collection of rare woods. Goodness only knows how long he'd had it, because the label on it looked ancient. None-the-less, it was originally priced at £28.50, but the lady gave (yes, gave) it to me as an extra, stating that I probably wouldn't want it because it was riddled with knots... .

It turned surprisingly well, although it was extremely dry and quite hard. No fancy beads or bird-beaks....the grain speaks for itself and I'm sure that trying to cut fine details would have been like courting disaster!

Diameter is a little under 12" and came out of a very warped, 2" blank, so has ended up about 1.5" overall height. It's had only one coat of Danish oil, and has been buffed, but I'll oil it again over the next few days.





Comments and criticisms always welcome...Les

[Bryan Milham]

Les,

It's a stunning bit of burr, but the plate does not call to me.

The dimensions look a little off, not quite 1/3's or another balance point, more 1/2 rim & 1/2 bowl. And then it looks like the rim is con-caved...

It sort of loses it as a form for me I'm afraid, as an attractive piece of wood, I'm sure it well sell easily though.

[Les Symonds]

hi Bryan....fair point and I accept what you've said. The plate-rim is generally flat, with a slight upturn to its outer rim. The rim is 5cm wide and the bowl 18cm across, so you're right....it doesn't fit the 1/3:2/3 rule, but I guess that's because I wanted to keep more of the rim visible. Perhaps I'm too concerned that the beauty of the grain will be lost if some Philistine fills the bowl of the plate with 'stuff'!
Les

[Les Symonds]

Having thought about it, how do you apply the rule of thirds to a plate? I've considered the following....
1...divide the diameter by 3 and make the bowl two thirds and the rim one third. Thus, for a 30cm plate, the bowl would be 20cm wide and the rim 10cm. However, this poses a problem, because on any line drawn through the centre of the plate, we see the bowl once and the rim twice, so the rim would need to be 5cm wide to maths the maths work - 5cm rim + 20cm bowl + 5cm rim = 30cm
2...divide the radius by 3 and make the radius of the bowl two thirds and the width of the rim one third. thus, for the same size bowl as used above (in example 1), the bowl would have a 10cm radius ( which makes the bowl 20cm wide) and the rim would be 5 cm wide. This results in the bowl appearing to be 4 times the width of the rim.

I'm confused! Help!

[Bryan Milham]

Les,

A good question and truthfully the best way is to do what looks  right.

But a little math does go a long way, I said 'or other balance point', so the 1/3 - 2/3 rule is not the only one. Look up Fibonacci, any point along his sequence will generally give a balanced ratio that is comfortable to the eye.

Another point to remember if you make a wide bowl section, it is a functional piece and hence a bowl/platter, a small bowl with a very wide rim is non-functional and hence art (and a higher price to match).

[Les Symonds]

Les,

A good question and truthfully the best way is to do what looks  right.

But a little math does go a long way, I said 'or other balance point', so the 1/3 - 2/3 rule is not the only one. Look up Fibonacci, any point along his sequence will generally give a balanced ratio that is comfortable to the eye.

Another point to remember if you make a wide bowl section, it is a functional piece and hence a bowl/platter, a small bowl with a very wide rim is non-functional and hence art (and a higher price to match).

That's it, then....it's art and the price just doubled. Ker-ching! Thanks Bryan.

Les

[bodrighywood]

Whilst I generally agree with what Brian is saying re: Fibonacci etc there are times when the rules need to be broken. The wood is dramatic enough to overcome any problem with the ratio for me but then I am prone to like things that are 'different' LOL.

Pete

[woodndesign]

Hi Les, I'll give you, you're spot on with the dimensions, the placement has at 9:00>12:00 gives you've split some knots/branches and brought out some really nice feather/quil to the bargain, very pleasing piece to the eye ... grace any table/display.

Lovely Elm an will look nice oiled ... every day for a week .. every week for a month .. every month for a year .. an year thereafter.

Well done and a new outlet ...

Dewi

[georg]

   How we managed to miss this piece I don't know       In our favourite wood too
   
   a really nice simple form letting the wood speak for itself.

    Regards Di and Tony

[Bryan Milham]

Okay, so I'm a minority of one, I know when I'm beaten.

[woodndesign]

Okay, so I'm a minority of one, I know when I'm beaten.

Which one ... none our beaten .. there's no right, as there's no hard nor fast Rules .. it's one that the wood won.

Cheers

[Les Symonds]

Okay, so I'm a minority of one, I know when I'm beaten.

Maybe, Bryan, maybe not....but stick to your beliefs. the guidance that you have offered on form and proportions has proven successful many-a-time.