Natural art: A worker works on old teak root to be made into furniture products in Nganjuk, East Java. JP/Achmad Faisal

Teak root furniture has long delighted buyers across the world because of its unusual shapes and the guarantee that no two pieces are the same.

But manufacturers warn that, without proper cultivation and controls on illegal logging, in less than
a decade there will be no new pieces made.

Yudi Candra, a furniture maker and owner of Exotic Gallery in Nganjuk in East Java, has loved the forests of East Java since he was a child. During the dry season, he and his staff spend weeks, or even months, poring through these forests seeking out the right type of root for their pieces.

“Finding the right type of root is not easy,” he says. He carefully maps out the best locations, mainly in the northern forests of East Java, in parts of Bojonegoro, Tuban and Lamongan.

“The secret to the interesting shapes of the roots,” he reveals, “is the limestone content of the soil.”
The other secret is age: The teak roots used for the furniture are usually between 200 and 400 years old, with some roots as old as 700 years.

This very fact is why it is predicted that in only seven or eight years, there may be no more roots available. Logging, both legal and illegal, removes any chance of roots forming naturally; agricultural engineering has proved to be of no use for this purpose, as the technology cannot reproduce the shapes that make the roots such interesting — and commercially successful — natural works of art.

“But it is not illegal for us to remove the roots,” Yudi insists, pointing out that every root taken must be reported to forest officials in the forest area administration. The removal of the roots also incurs a rehabilitation fee, determined according to the weight of the root.

The per-kilogram levy is between Rp 300 and Rp 1,000. A single large root can weigh up to 1.5 tons. The officials then file legal documents about the root.

Taking roots is also restricted to those areas where logging is already permitted, to protect threatened areas. Teak Area Waste Permits are issued by Perhutani (the Indonesian state forest company).

For furniture makers like Yudi, the right kind of root can make a difference.

“There are two types of root used in the furniture: Tap roots and heart roots,” he says.

Tap roots tend to be long and relatively slender, and heart roots, which are shorter and fatter, have a more irregular shape. The irregular shapes of the heart roots are the result of abnormalities or disease in the tree that cause the nutrients in the soil to stay in the root, without rising to the tree.

The different the type makes is in the price, as furniture made from a taproot can fetch three or four times the price of furniture made from a heart root.

Not that it is ever easy to set a price tag, Yudi explains. “The price is determined by the beauty of
the natural shape. In general, the more unusual and interesting the shape, the higher the price of the final work.”

For Yudi, those buyers — usually collectors or brokers — who truly understand the art and character of the pieces prove the best negotiators because of their understanding of each piece’s value.

Yudi confesses he is often impressed by the way buyers choose their preferred pieces.

“Yet I am only fully satisfied if I am sure the buyer appreciates the artistic value of the piece,” he says. “Most of the products I sell tend to be resold on the international market.”

And they aren’t sold cheap. For example, Yudi says, he can sell a dining set consisting of a table and four chairs, made from a taproot, for between Rp 200 million and Rp 400 million. Furniture from other types of root is less expensive.

The limited availability of the raw materials pushes up the price of the final products year by year, and Yudi is assured that he will always find a buyer.

“I’m not worried if my goods don’t sell for several months, because once they are sold I am able to cover the costs I incurred several months earlier,” he says.

Yudi believes and is willing to claim that he is East Java’s only supplier of furniture made from taproots. The furniture sold on the Saradan main road between Nganjuk and Madiun, and in some locations in Tuban and Bojonegoro, is, he insists, made from other types of root.

The high price is also due to the length of time taken to turn the root into the final product. He and his three workers often spend around four to five months on the process, including cleaning, polishing and sanding through to the final step, varnishing.

And this, says Yudi, whose artistic background is as a painter, requires the best workers.

“Because this is an artistic product, we don’t just need workers with skills, but also workers who are able to work with enthusiasm,” he says.

The final product usually draws its beauty from its natural shape rather than any human flourishes.

Some roots are decorated with animal or flower motifs, but these are generally considered to have less artistic value.

The unusual shapes combined with the age of the root means many people believe there is something supernatural — perhaps ghostlike — about teak roots.

But Yudi believes there is no need for the supernatural, as “Nature herself does everything necessary to create a beautiful work of art”.

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