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| Wood Primer |
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Oak typically has a highly visible grain, less subtle than that on the
18th-century Dutch piece.
(Photo: Courtesy of Christie's, Ltd.) |
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Recognizing a particular hardwood is easier. First,
you'll need to find the grain to determine the arrangement of the
pores. If you have trouble seeing the grain because the bottoms of the feet
are dirty or worn, try a trick Podmaniczky uses. "Look at the curved
parts of the furniture," he says.
A cut made at an oblique angle
elongates the grain, giving you a better view of the pores. On a Queen Anne
chair, for example, look at the rounded shoulders or knees.
"Sometimes the rings are an inch wide in an oblique view," Podmaniczky
says.
Even if you can see the pores clearly,
positively identifying the timber type takes additional skills.
Professionals consider such factors as color, ring width, and even smell.
Nonwood clues are equally important. "I start with an assumption that
narrows my choices down to a couple of woods," says Podmaniczky.
"I then look for characteristics that confirm or deny those
assumptions." For instance, if he sees what looks stylistically like
a mid-18th-century piece from the Connecticut River Valley, he knows that
it will most likely be cherry.
As aficionados such as Podmaniczky can attest,
characterizing the type of wood is not only a useful skill when purchasing
wood furniture, but visual and historical clues can also reveal the story
behind an antique.
| TEN WOODS TO KNOW |
| Ash Hardwood; whitish, heavy, and tough (many
baseball bats are ash); can be steamed and bent without losing strength;
often found in the hooped backs of Windsor chairs
Boxwood Hardwood; cream-colored, heavy, dense, and
extremely smooth with a surface that polishes to a silky luster; used for
small projects, such as decorative inlays or turned pieces
Cherry Hardwood; brownish but distinguished by its
golden, green-tinted sheen; medium weight and hard; prized for furniture,
ornamental boxes, and other decorative objects
Ebony Hardwood; bright brown to deep black with a
subdued luster; very heavy and hard; used since Roman times for cabinets
and artistic bowls, boxes, and sculpture
Fruitwood (Apple, Pear) Hardwood; from golden yellow
to reddish-brown; hard with a nice luster; used often in veneering and
marquetry
Mahogany Hardwood; coppery-brown; hard; imported from
the West Indies and Central and South America; popular among 18th- and
19th-century furnituremakers
Oak Hardwood; from silvery white to brownish; hard
with highly visible grain; common in pre-1700 and late 19th-century Revival
furniture
Pine Softwood; pale yellow to reddish-brown with dark
resin lines; lightweight and easily dented; found in country furniture and
in secondary timbers in high-style furniture
Poplar Hardwood; white to pale yellow with almost no
visible grain; light and soft but dense; used mostly for secondary timbers;
too porous to be planed or polished
Walnut Hardwood; from light brown (English) to deep
chocolate (American); durable; universally popular cabinet timber |
| WEB EXTRA: TIMBER TERMS |
| Primary Wood The most visible wood on a piece of
furniture, used for the front of the piece; also called "show
wood"
Secondary Wood Used on unseen parts of furniture,
such as the bottoms and sides of drawers or the back of the piece
Hardwood Broad-leaved, deciduous trees (such as
walnut, oak, ash, cherry, ebony and mahogany) that are generally the
primary or 'show' woods in cabinets
Softwood Conifers (such as pine, spruce, cedar, and
yew) that are usually secondary woods, or primary woods in rustic or
painted furniture
Deal In England, a generic term for softwood that is
imported from other European countries |
RESOURCES: Clinton Howell, Clinton Howell Antiques, 212/517-5879, www.clintonhowell.com; Winterhtur Museum, 800/448-3883, www.winterthur.org.
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