A RARE AND PRECIOUS MATERIAL.
Imagine running your hand over the surface of a table crafted exclusively for you, even more unique and precious because it’s the “child” of a tree that—having journeyed through adventures, centuries, and even millennia—has reached you thanks to a series of extraordinary events. With Tabula, this dream becomes reality: that special table can find its home with you.
A JOURNEY OF HUNDREDS, EVEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
Tabula’s mission has always been to transform wood from extraordinary trees into precious pieces of design that tell a story, all while fully respecting nature.
This is especially true with our furnishings made from fossil wood. The fossilization of plants and trees is rarer than that of other organisms, happening only when a series of favorable natural factors coincide.
Each of our fossil wood furnishings, also known as bog wood, tells the incredible adventure of a tree that grew long ago along the banks of rivers like the Sava in Croatia or the Danube in Romania. A remarkable natural event—such as a flood—uprooted that majestic tree, swept it away, and buried it beneath layers of mud and gravel in the riverbed. Only when perfectly isolated from air could the wood begin a slow process of fossilization. It is the absence of oxygen that prevented bacteria and mold from degrading its structure. Minerals and metals present in the water fused with its fibers, giving it unique, unrepeatable colors, impossible to replicate with industrial processes on traditional woods, as they degrade from the outside in.
THE AWAKENING OF A HIDDEN TREASURE.
If no other circumstances had intervened, this tree would have remained hidden under sediment for millennia, eventually turning completely into stone or, in the case of woods like elm or ash, disintegrating. This is why, even though we call this wood “fossil,” it’s actually a simplification: Tabula works with wood discovered before complete fossilization occurs, thus preserving its extraordinary structure and workability. This uniqueness, combined with the rarity of the material, makes it incredibly precious and difficult to find.
Only nature, through erosion or the shifting of the riverbed, can reveal these treasures that have slept for centuries at the “right” moment. Very few “useful” sightings ever occur.
THE COMPLEXITY OF RECOVERY AND PROCESSING.
When a fossil log reemerges, it must be extracted with great care to preserve the integrity and unique characteristics of its precious wood. This is a task that requires specific skills, proper tools, and a lot of time…
The next news will cover the challenging recovery process, careful seasoning, drying, and much more. You’ll discover the secrets of the various steps that transform a fossil log into a unique masterpiece, signed by Tabula.
