Originally from the jungles of South America, the Rain Tree has been established in South East Asia for hundreds of years. It produces wood with a coarse texture and straight, interlocking grain, making it a particularly easy hardwood to carve as well as preventing any cracking in dry environments.

Known for its speed of growth and easy cultivation, a Rain Tree (also known as ‘monkey pod’ or, in latin, ‘Samanea Saman’) can grow up to 80 ft tall, with a broad crown or canopy. The squat, wide trunks are often massive and lend themselves to the carving of larger statues.

Any given piece of Rain Tree wood will boast several different shades of brown due to the wide variations in colour that can typically be found between the heartwood and sapwood (inner and outer parts of the trunk) - a characteristic which leads many observers to confuse it with mahogany.