Materials

Indigenous New Zealand timbers featured in John’s work

Kauri

The best-known of NZ’s native trees, the kauri is also one of the world’s longest-lived trees and one of the largest. The wood is recovered, often from relics of 19th century logging – the crowns and stumps of giant trees were left when the forests were felled. The timber is characteristically golden with a distinctive fleck, and often has dramatic figuring. Kauri trees that were growing as long ago as 50,000 years can sometimes be found, perfectly preserved, in swampy ground. The wood from these ancient trees may show a range of colours from gold through to a lustrous dark grey-green.

Pohutukawa
(aka New Zealand Christmas tree)

The pohutukawa, well-known for the beauty of its red flower, has pink to dark red wood that may also show distinctive black markings in older trees. The timber of this spectacular coastal tree is hard and heavy, and becomes available when trees are lost through storm damage or landslips.

Black Maire

The maire is a medium to large forest tree, the timber of which is harder even than that of the pohutukawa. The wood was sometimes used as bearing blocks in the engines of ships in the late 1800s. Like its cousin, olivewood, black maire has a lovely marbled appearance, with black flecks and swirls on a honey-coloured surface.

Rimu

Rimu, another forest giant, has timber famous for its figuring, the heartwood being streaked with colours ranging from yellow to purple. Like that of the kauri, the wood can sometimes be recovered from the timber left in the forest after logging operations.