Rosewood
Botanical name: Dalbergia spp., Dalbergia nigra Rio
Rosewood is a fine tropical wood that varies greatly in colour. At the time our furniture was made, it was a very expensive wood, as it was imported by ship from far away.
Because of the high price to be paid, rosewood was used almost exclusively as a veneer.
Antique furniture made of rosewood
Especially during the Baroque and Rococo periods, rosewood was popular at the French court. We are talking here about the Louis XIV and Louis XV eras.
With the revival of 18th century furniture in historicism, the woods of that period also came back into fashion, which after the Empire had mostly been replaced by native woods such as cherry or walnut.
Rosewood - a wood with different colour variations
Rosewood comes in many different colour variations. The Indian rosewood has a very dark, almost violet tone. The so-called Rio rosewood comes from Brazil and has a brown, strongly striped texture.
The rather light reddish woods "kingwood" and "rosewood" are also among the popular rosewood species of the 18th century.
Even today, rosewood is used in fine furniture, musical instruments, knife handles and fine arts and crafts.
The rosewood used in the period of origin of our antiques came from India, Madagascar and from Central and South America.
In the picture you can see a heavily striped Indian rosewood on the left and a rather plain one from Madagascar on the right.
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