Locally carved tabletop salmon made from spectacular California Buckeye burl wood, mounted on a base of Manzanita burl. Prices range from $695 to $825. Contact us or stop by the gallery to see exactly what we have available.

We prefer not to ship these carvings as the fins are very fine and fragile. Shipping these pieces may incur a $20 boxing fee since we will be packing very, very carefully. We may request customer sign-off release on possible shipping damages. Local pickup is preferred when possible.

More by this artist:

Buckeye Tabletop Orca

Buckeye Wall Salmon | Buckeye Wall Orca

About Buckeye Wood 

Aesculus californica, commonly known as the California buckeye or California horse-chestnut, is a large deciduous shrub or small tree in the Chestnut family native to California and southwestern Oregon. It has an estimated lifespan between 250-280 years. 

The flowers are sweet-scented, white to pale pink. The tree bears a large, round, orange-brown seed in a leathery case containing the seeds, which are poisonous.

Local Native American tribes, including the Pomo, Yokut, and Luiseño, used the poisonous nuts to stupefy schools of fish in small streams to make them easier to catch. 

The slabs uses for buckeye slabs and carvings actually come from the root ball of the tree. They can be as large as sixteen feet in diameter. The trunks of the trees are used for creating art as well, as bases to support tables, etc. 

The root ball is removed from the earth and allowed to sit and “weather” for a year or two. This exposure to the heat of summer and the rain and cold of the winter allows leaching of the minerals imbedded in the root ball. The growth of fungi and bacterial action all contribute to the unique coloration found in buckeye.