True mahogany

What is true mahogany? In the botanical sense it means species of the genus Swietenia. The market also has woods called “African mahogany,” sapele, or similar trade names, which are not the same genus. On an old piece, the name in a catalog or in a family story is a clue, not proof.

How to recognize it. The heartwood runs from a light brown to a reddish brown and deepens with age and finish. The pores are medium to large and visible to the eye, sometimes with dark deposits. The grain can be straight, wavy, or interlocked; a quarter cut can produce a ribbon figure. The veneer photographed here shows the long face, not a full anatomical section.

Working properties. Good mahogany is agreeable to work and to carve, relatively stable, and it takes a deep polish and finish. Those qualities suited wide doors, table tops, façades, and detailed carving. Interlocked grain can tear out under a plane, so the direction of the work matters.

In antique furniture. Mahogany is associated with English, European, and American furniture from the 18th century onward. It appears as solid wood and also as veneer on a ground of pine, oak, or another wood. A new part that looks too red may be stained, or it may be another species; a good match also looks at pores and grain figure.

Trade and responsibility. CITES listings depend on the species, the geographic population, and the form of the product. For example, a CITES guide notes that Swietenia macrophylla from the Neotropics is regulated under Appendix II for logs, sawn wood, veneer, and plywood. A finished piece of furniture, an antique, or material from a plantation outside the natural range is not necessarily treated the same way. Before buying, importing, or exporting, check the species, the origin, the form of the product, and the current law with the competent authority.

Mahogany became a central material of elite Atlantic furniture in the 18th century and continued to shape furniture in the 19th. Historical felling and trade now raise questions of identification, documentation, and legal origin; in restoration, existing material should be conserved, and any replacement wood should be documented.