Antique Wood Types
The most commonly used woods in antique furniture.
Solid and Veneer
At first antique furniture was made from solid wood, but as cabinet making improved, the technique of decorating furniture by applying veneers (thin sheets of wood which can be cut from the tree in several ways) developed. This was an economical way of using expensive woods, and allowed the maker to create decorative effects from the different grains and patterns (called figuring) of the wood.
Veneered furniture has a carcass (solid body) made from a different (usually less expensive) wood. This secondary wood, as it's known, is most commonly pine or oak.
The first real vogue for veneered furniture came in the walnut period, 1680-1740, when the decorative effects of cutting veneers from walnut, laburnum, olive, tulipwood and so on, was appreciated. Originally these veneers were hand cut with a saw and were fairly thick - up to an eighth of an inch. They could be cut along the grain of the wood to give a straight, plain effect without much figure, or across the branches to form oysters.
Burr veneers were obtained by malformations of the grain due to injury, such as lopping. Mahogany veneers of great decorative effect were also much used from about 1745. From the Victorian period, paper thin veneers came into use and were obviously attractive because of the saving in wood. Thes days all modern veneered furniture is covered in these thin knife-cut sheets.
Amboyna: A yellowish-brown burred wood type somewhat between 'bird's-eye' maple and burr walnut. Used in the eighteenth century and on into the nineteenth, nearly always as a veneer, both for cross-banding and for whole surfaces.
Origin: East Indies.
Apple: One of the popular fruitwoods used in the solid country pieces in the eighteenth century, although it had some use as a veneer earlier. A light reddish-brown in color with some mild figuring. Fairly close-ground and hard.
Ash: A whitish-grey fairly hard wood used in country furniture in the eighteenth century and for drawer linings.
Beech: Brownish-whitish wood type with a distinctive flecked grain. Used in the solid from the 17th century for the frames of upholstered furniture (doesn't split when tacked). In the late Georgian and Regency periods it was painted, particularly in chair work. Early caned chairs of Restoration period were made from beech instead of walnut for economy and then ebonized.
Birch: A light yellowish-brown woof type and fairly soft. Used in eighteenth century for chairs and country furniture.
Boxwood: A whitish-yellow color, without any figure. Used mainly as an inlay or for stringing lines from the sixteenth century.
Cedar: Reddish-brown, like a soft mahogany. Used for chests and interior work from the middle of the eighteenth century.
Cherry: Reddish-brown wood type. Used for country furniture and for inlay or crossbanding from seventeenth century. Also popular for American Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture. Usually used in the solid.
Chestnut: Ranges in tone from light to dark brown. Horse chestnut is light, almost white and mainly found as a drawer lining material. Sweet chestnut matures to a reddish-brown and is reasonably hard for a country wood. Used for legs and in chairs from the seventeenth century. In the 18th century for French provincial furniture made in the solid.
Coromandel: A yellow and black striped wood used mainly for crossbanding from the late eighteenth century onwards.
Deal: Plain, straight-grained Scots pine. Used mainly for carcases (of chests, etc.) and drawer linings of lesser quality pieces. From seventeenth century onwards.
Ebony: Dense, heavy, almost black wood, often used as a contrasting inlay in marquetry veneering.
Elm: Light brown wood type with distinctive blackish figuring when old and ingrained with dirt. Used extensively for country furniture and chairs, including seats of Windsors. Cut into burr veneers of fairly small sheets with extremely pleasing effect
Harewood: This is just sycamore which has been stained to a greyish-green color. Much used in later eighteenth century and Regency as a decorative veneer.
Holly: White wood type, used for inlay and marquetry work from sixteenth century.
Kingwood: A brown and black striped wood like rosewood, particularly used for crossbanding on tables in late eighteenth century. Was used previously in late seventeenth century also as a veneer.
Laburnum: Cut as plain veneer, a yellow-brown with streaks of darker brown. Cut as an 'oyster' very dark rich blackish-brown. Used as veneer from late seventeenth century, particularly in parquetry.
Lignum vitae: Dark brown with black streaks. Very hard, used from seventeenth century as veneer and in solid
Lime: Whitish-yellow wood type; used by carvers.
Mahogany: Rich golden-brown or red-brown wood type, excellent for carving and takes varnish very well. Can be finely polished and possesses a pleasing depth of tone. There are several types of mahogany; San Domingan, Cuban, Honduras and Spanish are most common.
Maple: Light yellow; used as veneer and inlay. 'Bird's-eye' maple used more in the nineteenth century.
Oak: Deep, rich, chocolate-brown or pale golden-brown coarse-grained wood used predominantly in Britain from Middle Ages to late 17th century. Also used as a secondary wood on good-quality antique furniture.
Olive: Dark, greenish with black streaking wood type. Used in parquetry, as 'oyster' and in veneers, from late seventeenth century.
Padouk: Red, with blackish figure. Used in solid from mid-eighteenth century and particularly from early nineteenth century for military chests
Pear: Yellowish-brown wood type. Used for country furniture and for carving.
Pine: Soft, pale, honey-colored wood used in England and America as a secondary timber for drawer linings, and in the 19th century for inexpensive furniture (which was often painted).
Plum: Yellowish-red wood type. Used for country pieces and as an inlay from the seventeenth century.
Rosewood: Highly figured dark red-brown wood with blackish streaks. Used from the sixteenth century, but most found during the Regency and Victorian periods in England in solid and veneer for high-quality furniture.
Satinwood: Light, yellow-colored West Indian wood, favored during the late 18th century. Usually used in veneers as it was expensive, and sometimes embellished with painted decoration. Painted satinwood furniture was also popular in the Edwardian period.
Sycamore: White with fleck. Used from the late seventeenth century as a veneer. Often found on sides or banding of marquetry furniture of the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century.
Tulipwood: Yellow-brown with reddish stripes. Used for crossbanding from the late eighteenth century.
Walnut: English walnut: golden brown with dark figuring. Much used in veneers from the sixteenth century but particularly 1660-1740. Also cut in burr and oyster form. Black walnut: also grown in England from the late seventeenth century and much darker. Used in solid and can be mistaken for mahogany at first glance. Walnut was also popular in America and in the Victorian era.
Yew: Reddish-brown, very hard wood type, with some burr effects. Polishes magnificently. Used from the sixteenth century; often found in chairs of country origin, Windsors and tables but also used on fine furniture in burr veneer form.
Zebrawood: Brown with dark stripes. Used as a veneer from the late eighteenth century.
For a ridiculous amount (in a good way of course) of information about wood types, including tons of pictures and very detailed information, go to: Exotic Wood.
