black, without paint

No paint goes onto our raw material. That is not a pose but a way of working, and with chestnut it shows most clearly.

We dissolve steel wool in white wine vinegar. The iron oxide solution reacts with the tannins already present in the chestnut. What emerges is a black that sits inside the fibre rather than on top of it. It does not fade and cannot be sanded off.

The process is slow and no two pieces of wood react the same way. On Missamandi-br this black stands next to filled bronze. The castors sit invisibly beneath the top.