"Provenance is more than just the history of ownership," says Michael Podmaniczky, former senior furniture conservator at Delaware's Winterthur Museum. "In what country and region was an antique made? Who made it? Knowing the wood in an antique can be one more kernel of information to help you place the piece."

Identifying wood can be a complicated process, but armed with a few tricks -- and a common magnifying glass or 10x jeweler's loupe -- even beginners can decipher clues hidden in the grain of a wood. It's a step-by-step process of ruling out choices. "You're not trying to determine the timber straight-away," says Howell. "The first step is deciding whether it's softwood or hardwood."

Minute openings called pores are key in distinguishing between woods. The most obvious difference between hardwoods and softwoods is that softwoods do not have pores, while hardwoods do. Differentiating between softwood species is extremely difficult, but here's a clue: Only four softwoods -- spine, spruce, larch, and Douglas fir -- have resin canals, seen as little flecks of brown or white in a cross-section of the wood. Other softwoods, such as cedar, cypress, and hemlock, have no resin canals and, therefore, no flecks.