Ebonised furniture is furniture made of a less expensive timber, usually pearwood, beech, birch or similar close-grained wood, that has been stained or lacquered black to imitate the appearance of ebony. The black finish gives a dramatic, sophisticated effect and provides a striking ground for gilding, inlay, painted decoration and gilt-metal mounts.
Ebonising was used in seventeenth-century Dutch and English cabinets and picture frames, and became widely fashionable again in the Regency period, when black and gold furniture suited the taste for the antique and the exotic. The technique reached its height in the later nineteenth century, when Aesthetic Movement designers such as E. W. Godwin, Collcutt and makers including Collinson and Lock produced elegant ebonised cabinets, side tables and chairs influenced by Japanese design. French Napoleon III furniture often combined ebonised wood with brass inlay and Boulle work. Collectors should inspect for worn edges, where the paler underlying timber shows through, and for later ebonising disguising poor-quality wood. Original finish with gentle wear is preferred to heavy refinishing, and ebonised pieces work particularly well in modern interiors for their graphic, architectural lines.
