finish on burls

Hi I am fairly new to this site and must say I find it very interesting.One of the things I love most about building studio furniture for a living is how I have been doing it for over 30 yrs now and I don’t feel like I can come even close to learning all there is to know about it.
That’s what brings me to this subject,the rocking chair on this site with the burl seat and handles is wonderful and looks fantastic.My question is how can this be finished so that it doesn’t dry out and eventuall come apart,check or suffer other damage in time.I realize it would take quite awhile but won’t it eventually dry out and have problems.Surely there are some more knowledgeable people than myself out there on this subjest and I would really be interested in anyone willing to share the knowledge with me.
There are some pictures of wonderful work on this site,really impressive!

Later

Cowboy