Rosewood

Backstaff
MFA# 1993.533

Description

Any of several wood from trees of the genus Dalbergia. Rosewood timber has a reddish-purple color and produces a rose-like smell when cut. The wood has a fine grain, smooth texture, and polishes to a high gloss. Rosewood is used for cabinets, musical instruments, piano cases and veneer. It was popular during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

• Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) tends to have a more variegated reddish color. A water extract of Brazilian rosewood with not fluoresce while that of most other rosewoods fluoresces a pale blue/green color.

• East Indian rosewood or Bombay blackwood (Dalbergia latifolia) tends to be a darker purple or brown with a tightly packed pore density.

• Honduras rosewood (Dalbergia stevensonii) has an uneven pore size

Grand piano
MFA# 1986.56

Synonyms and Related Terms

jacaranda; East Indian rosewood (Bombay blackwood, Dalbergia latifolia); Honduras rosewood (Dalbergia stevensonii); Brazilian rosewood (palisander, Rio rosewood, Bahia rosewood, Dalbergia nigra); Rosenholz (Deut.); bois de rose (Fr.); palissander (Ned.); shitan (Jap.); palisandro (Esp.); palissandro (It.)

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Tree height = to 30m
• Density = 50-63 ppcf

Risks

Contact may cause allergic rashes. Inhalation of dust may cause asthma

Additional Images

• 

  Bolivian rosewood

• 

  Rosewood from Honduras

• 

  East Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

• 

  Dalbergia sisso

• 

  Brazilian rosewood Dalbergia nigra

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 670

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• F. H. Titmuss, Commercial Timbers of the World, The Technical Press Ltd., London, 1965

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood (Accessed Oct. 3, 2005)

• Michael McCann, Artist Beware, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1979

• George Savage, Art and Antique Restorer's Handbook, Rockliff Publishing Corp, London, 1954

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• WMuseum of Japanese Traditional Art Crafts at http://www.nihon-kogeikai.com/ (Jap. term)