Common Name: Tamo Ash, Japanese Ash
Scientific Name: Fraxinus mandshurica
Family: Oleaceae
Origin: Eastern Asia (Korea, Japan, Manchuria)
Tamo ash wood veneer is one of the most highly figured species available. It has a rolling figure similar to "quilt”, but the shimmer is much stronger. This figure is often called "peanut" which does not effectively describe the beauty of this veneer. Anyway, this term well relates to the characterizing elements of the pattern, whose shape resembles that one of peanuts. The figure has a fascinating origin: vines wrap themselves around the tree’s trunk and restrict the flow of nutrients, changing the growing path of the trunk, and creating the so-called “peanuts”. The beauty of this wood is not easy to capture through the photographic lens, because they tend to diminish the high iridescence of the wood. Some clients have even described such iridescence as a “3D effect” representing water cascading over glass.
Tamo Ash is commonly used in veneers, fine furniture, marquetry and musical instruments.
