28/04/2026
Sometimes the wood tells you what it wants to be. πͺ΅β¨
I just finished this special commission and the story behind it is as deep as the wood itself. When I was asked to carve the BraΘov City Sign, I realized I was holding the exact piece of history needed to tell that story.
π The Legend
This is the city sign of BraΘov, Romania. The design features a crown resting on an oak trunkβa symbol based on a 700-year-old legend of a hidden crown found in the forest. Legend says King Solomon of Hungary was being pursued by enemies through the forests of Transylvania.
To prevent his crown from being captured, he took it off and placed it on a tree stump (some say a living oak) to hide it.
Years later, the crown was found by a local, and the city was built on that spot. The Latin name for BraΘov is Corona, meaning "Crown."
The roots represent the people and the land, while the crown represents the strength and royalty of the city.
π The Wood
To make it "super special," I used a piece of Bog Oak I found in the River Goyt a few years back. This wood has been submerged for centuries, reacting with iron salts in the water to turn nearly black and heavy and hard as stone.
The deep cracks you see are "natureβs signature"βstresses released as this ancient, waterlogged timber finally dries out after hundreds, or even thousands, of years underwater.
It felt only right to carve an ancient legend into a piece of ancient history.
From a riverbed in England to a piece of Transylvania. π¬π§βοΈπ·π΄
