Cherry is a close-grained fruitwood with a warm reddish-brown tone that deepens and mellows with age and exposure to light. It works and turns cleanly, takes a fine polish and was used across Europe and America for furniture, small cabinet work, turned items and inlay, both in the solid and as veneer.
In Britain cherry was chiefly a country and provincial timber, appearing in chairs, small tables, stools and the occasional chest, often alongside other fruitwoods such as pear and apple. It was used far more extensively in France, where much eighteenth and nineteenth-century provincial furniture, including armoires, buffets and farmhouse tables, was made in cherry, and in Biedermeier Germany and Austria, where its light honey colour suited the clean lines of the style. In North America, black cherry was a favoured cabinet wood for colonial and Federal furniture. Antique cherry is prized for its glowing patina, which can be difficult to reproduce, and for the subtle figure of the grain. Collectors should watch for later stains used to imitate mahogany and for heavy refinishing, which strips away the depth of colour that makes old cherry so attractive.
