 One of the questions I had while I was in London (and to some extent still have) is why certain woods became cabinetmaking standards and others were seemingly ignored. The answer to this question is both simple and complex. The simple answer relates to the turn from walnut to mahogany and is only simple because it has been investigated and concerns the (gradual) switch that took place when mahogany supplanted walnut as the primary high end furniture making timber. Thanks to Furniture History Society articles (one by John Cross and several by Adam Bowett) they explain that the reason mahogany gained such rapid acceptance was economic happenstance associated with the Naval Stores Act of 1721. (Furniture woods were considered next to irrelevant in comparison to the value of naval timbers.) Import taxes on walnut, particularly the lighter color walnut imported from the continent (Juglans regia), was a pound (sterling) per pound (weight). Timber imported from British colonies had a duty of a shilling per pound. Doubtless, there are other conditions such as aesthetics and workability, both of which mahogany excel in, but many questions still remain. Why, for example, was so much timber imported from Scandinavia--so much pine was imported through the port of Deal in Kent that pine, at least in the 1970's, was still referred to as deal. Were timber lands within the UK so coveted for both the navy and the building trade that the furniture trade did not get their hands on local woods and thereby had to import woods? Also, what did shipping routes have to do with who used which timber? Almost everyone knows that mahogany shipped to Ireland and northern England was different to the mahogany shipped to London. So many questions.
The best place to see timber samples in London is Kew Gardens. That is where you will find a spectacular xylaria (the proper name for a collection of timber samples) where there are over 30,000 samples. Kew Gardens is one of the great botanical gardens (I have to say that there are a number of great botanical gardens, so this is not to slight any other garden). When you see the samples, it again makes you wonder what woods were passed over and for what reason? When (and if) you ever visit Kew Gardens, and I wholeheartedly recommend it, pull yourself away from the magnificent tree specimens and go look at the xylaria. You will see what I mean.
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