Faux Tafoni No. 1

You’ve probably seen the strange, honeycomb rock formation called tafoni. It forms in fine-grained rocks like sandstone all around the world, from the seashore to the desert, California to the Mediterranean. Tafoni consists of a myriad of holes, in varying sizes and patterns, each hole separated from its neighbor by a thin rocky ridge. Rock climbers love it! The term probably comes from the Corsican or Sicilian word taffoni (“holes”); in Italian, it’s nido d’ape roccioso (“rocky honeycomb”). The best thing about tafoni is that no one really knows how it forms. Theories range from wind erosion, to weathering caused by lichen. The most popular theory is that tafoni results from a combination of factors, but especially salt weathering, under fluctuating moisture conditions. There’s no mystery about our faux “tafoni” however! It’s made of stoneware clay in our Bellingham, Washington studio. Use it to hold precious pebbles, serve hors d'oeuvre, or simply enjoy it as is.

11” x 10” x 3”