The photo is poor and suffers from suboptimal winter lighting but the dark, mirror polished stone really is magnificent! This one is loaded with black dendrites streaking through the upper half of it! This is a truly unique and absolutely beautiful petrified wood slab cut from an ancient fossil conifer from Washington State’s Saddle Mountain. This nicely shaped slab features gorgeous, kinky wood grain that is likely from the stump area of a larger tree. Much of the wood found at Saddle Mtn. Is formed in the violent aftermath of volcanic events that left a lot of distorted stumps entombed in ash to petrify into the artistic gemstones we find now. This is very old stock material that came from an estate that collected it over many years in the latter half of the 20th century. This slab has been cut across the grain to produce an unparalleled display of natural gem fossil art. The finished result is one of the most visually appealing slabs from this fabulous source I’ve ever handled! This beautifully detailed slab is cut from a petrified log specimen carved from a fragment of what must have been an enormous ancient conifer tree! The color, agate density and wood grain pattern are superior by Saddle Mountain standards. The display face is polished to a mirror finish to show the color and wood grain in their full splendor! This is a truly amazing, beautifully prepared petrified wood specimen that has been cut with the wood grain to reveal growth structure and wood characteristics not seen in our more typical cross cut specimens. It’s a large slab from a petrified conifer tree and it turned out really nicely. It comes from the Saddle Mtn. Area of Washington State. This location produced quite a bit of nice petrified wood but a large piece of this quality is a pretty unique find. This slab was part of the Duward Whitney estate collection. Duward was a Kansas collector that had amassed a world class collection of nearly 1200 museum grade petrified wood specimens in the latter half of the 20th century. This slab is one of the few pieces from that collection to finally make it back in circulation for a new collector to cherish. Duward collected petrified wood from all over the world but, like many, was particularly fond of the gem grade wood found in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this collection first hand and admired gorgeous specimens from locations in the central US that I’d not previously heard of. The vast majority of his collection remains in tact in the hands of another private collector who has asked me to assist with offering a few duplicates to balance the collection. The stories that linger of his collecting suggest that he had a friend near the Saddle Mountain area that supplied him with some of the best old stock material ever found in this large volcanic deposit in Eastern Washington. There are more pieces from this site than the new owner can properly display which provides a rare opportunity to acquire a truly world class specimen at a reasonable price. The best grades of Saddle Mountain wood were dominated by coffee and cream colors with bold streaks of rusty gold color often loaded with black dendrites. The colorful display pieces were often referred to as “picture wood” by local collectors for obvious reasons. Duwart’s love for the material shows in both the collection and the care that went into producing world class specimens from them. I’ve touched up any issues in the finish to insure that the final piece is a truly perfect work of natural art! You don’t have to be a petrified wood collector to appreciate how uniquely beautiful this agatized fossil from an ancient forest is. The interior looks to have been painted with a paintbrush on a creamy agate canvas. It’s really stunning in person – the depth of color and translucence of the agatized wood can’t be fully appreciated in a photo. I guarantee that once you’ve added this piece of spectacular, highly agatized wood to your collection you’ll be glad you did. It’s really gorgeous. This stone has been professionally cut and polished to a mirror perfect shine. Our custom built polishing laps produce a finish unlike anything many collectors have ever had the chance to own themselves. The polish really is liquid perfect – a difference in the quality products Sticks-in-Stones has built its reputation on! This large display slab measures 17 1/4″ x 8 3/4″ across the mirror polished face and is cut about 0.62 thick. Weight is 4.92 lbs. A nice, unique natural wonder collectible exclusively from Sticks-in-Stones Lapidary! The item “SiS ASTONISHING 17+ Saddle Mountain PICTURE WOOD Fossil Petrified Wood Slab” is in sale since Friday, February 19, 2021. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Rocks, Fossils & Minerals\Fossils\Vegetation\Petrified Wood”. The seller is “rockshop” and is located in Beaverton, Oregon. This item can be shipped worldwide.