Giant Finials

When I call these finials giant, I mean giant.  They are three feet tall.  I found them at the flea market a couple of months ago.  The only problem was they had a big metal pipe running through them that stuck out the top and the bottom.  I thought "no problem," I'll just have my husband remove the pipe and I'll add a small decorative finial at the top to finish them off.  Turned out the pipe did not come out.  So new lesson learned.  You can cut galvanized pipe with a hack saw.  Who knew?  Surely not us.  They sat in my husband's workshop for over a month before someone told us what to do to shorten the pipe.  Once that was done (and it was so easy), Steve did finish the tops with these smaller finials just to make them look like giant chess pieces.  I think these would be great outdoors as garden ornaments or on a fireplace hearth.  They are wonderful architectural pieces.  I'm considering these a great find now that they are finished and in  my space.

 This is what they looked like when I got them. You can sort of see the pipe at both ends.  And you know what is weird?  They are not wood either.  They were totally wood grained and even felt like wood.  They are not resin either.  A friend who is very knowledgeable told me in the 60's they were making a kind of wood composite material that had the look and feel of real wood but it was actually faux wood.  In other words, no trees were harmed in the making of these finials.  That's great news.