Antique Wood Types

If you have ever shopped for antique furniture, you probably noticed that there are many antique wood types. Follow this helpful guide to learn about antique wood types and pick out the right pieces for your furniture collection.

Solid wood

In the early days, furniture was made from solid wood. Cheap furniture was made with pine or oak and more expensive pieces were made form walnut, olive or mahogany.

Veneers

Towards the end of the 17th century, technology allowed for the creation of veneers, or thin slices of wood. The new trend in furniture was to create a piece with cheap wood and cover it in more expensive veneers. For example, a dresser would be hewed from pine and then covered in thin sheets of walnut for a classy and more elegant look.

The Victorian era

During this era, paper-thin veneers were very in style. The most common wood to make these from was Amboyna, a unique yellow-brown wood that looked similar to walnut.

Apple wood

Furniture that was made in the 17th and 18th century and not covered with veneers likely came from the East Indies. Here, apple wood was commonly used to make solid pieces of furniture. This wood has a light brown color with some figuring. Solid wood furniture was also sometimes made in America from pieces of black walnut.

Furniture from the 17th and 18th century was made from many different kinds of wood. Know the history of antique wood to determine how old pieces are and where they came from.