Glossary of Woods Used in French Furniture from the J. Paul Getty Museum Collection
In the list of materials at the beginning of each entry, woods that are marked with an asterisk have been identified by microscopic examination of their cellular anatomy. These identifications have been made by Bruce Hoadley of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst or Arlen Heginbotham of the Getty Museum. Woods without an asterisk have been tentatively identified based on their macroscopic appearance.
| ENGLISH | LATIN | FRENCH |
|---|---|---|
| alder | Alnus spp. | aulne |
| amaranth (purpleheart) | Peltogyne spp. | amarante |
| Andaman padauk | Pterocarpus dalbergioides | padauk d’Andaman |
| ash | Fraxinus spp. | frêne |
| barberry | Berberis spp. | épine-vinette |
| bloodwood (satiné) | Brosimum rubescens | satiné |
| boxwood | Buxus sempervirens | buis |
| cedar | Cedrus spp. | cèdre |
| cherry | Prunus spp. | merisier or cerisier |
| ebony | Diospyros spp. | ébène |
| ferréol (wamara)† | Swartzia sp. | ferréol |
| fir | Abies spp. | sapin |
| fruitwood | family Rosaceae | tribu du pommier |
| holly | Ilex aquifolium | houx |
| hornbeam | Carpinus betulus | charme |
| Japanese arborvitae | Thuja standishii | thuya du Japon |
| juniper | Juniperus spp. | genévrier |
| kingwood | Dalbergia cearensis | bois de violette |
| Macedonian pine | Pinus peuce | pin de Macédoine |
| mahogany | Swietenia spp. | acajou |
| maple | Acer spp. | érable |
| oak | Quercus spp. | chêne |
| padauk | Pterocarpus spp. | padouk or corail |
| pear | Pyrus spp. | poirier |
| poplar | Populus spp. | peuplier |
| rosewood | Dalbergia spp. | palissandre |
| red oak | Quercus sect. Lobatae | chêne rouge d’Amérique |
| service tree | Sorbus domestica | cormier |
| Spanish cedar | Cedrela spp. | cèdre |
| stone pine | Pinus cembra | arolle or pin cembro |
| sycamore maple | Acer pseudoplatanus | érable sycomore or simply sycomore |
| tulipwood | Dalbergia decipularis | bois de rose |
| walnut | Juglans spp. | noyer |
| white oak | Quercus sect. Quercus | chêne |
| white pine | Pinus subsect strobus | pin blanc |
† There is no recognized common name in English for the unidentified species of Swartzia that was called fereol in eighteenth-century France. In modern English “wamara” is commonly used to refer to any of a number of species of Swartzia and was used in , 176–77; however, for specificity, we have chosen to use the modern French term according to .
Bibliography
- Viaux-Lauquin 1997
- Viaux-Lauquin, Jacqueline. Les bois d’ébénisterie dans le mobilier français. Paris: Léonce Laget, 1997.
- Wilson et al. 2008
- Wilson, Gillian, Charissa Bremer-David, Jeffrey Weaver, Brian Considine, Arlen Heginbotham, Katrina Posner, and Julie P. Wolfe. French Furniture and Gilt Bronzes: Baroque and Régence; Catalogue of the J. Paul Getty Museum Collection. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2008.