These cypress book cases were made for a friend of mine in a small town south of Baton Rouge. Cypress has always been a pretty popular wood species here because of its prevalence here in the South because of it's beauty and insect and rot resistance. OK, there is no need for weather resistance inside but cypress historically was used in Louisiana outside for every part of home building - from sills and framing to door, window and trim molding. Today it is more used indoors for cabinetry and trim. Though, as you might imagine, the trees of today are not like the trees of a hundred years ago (not as pretty or weather resistant).

The interesting part of the bookcases is the twisted applied columns They were applied to the "clipped" corners and quartered between the book cases. The finish is glazing over amber shellac.