the minute that this piece has been adequately discussed. See to
it that the men give a brief, orderly statement on three points:
(1) The style with which they identify the piece; (2) reasons for
the classification; and (3) types of non-period pieces, rugs,
etc., in your own stock that could be used harmoniously with
it. Time should be allowed for criticism and comment, even if
very few pieces can be examined. If the group fails to arrive at
general agreement on any piece, request the men who are arguing
most keenly about it to consult other authorities and report at
the next meeting.
_Intermission_
3. _Selling furniture on style basis_ (30 minutes):
Demonstration by Messrs. Black and Herrick. In this demonstration,
let the men have 15 minutes free from interruption, with the time
limit announced in advance; stop them promptly when their time
has expired; and call for comment and criticism. These sales
rehearsals are of the utmost value if properly conducted. They
should never be permitted to lag or become involved in windy
discussion.
4. _How can we make use of unit III in closing any sales now pending?
Open discussion_ (20 minutes):
A sale of importance often has to be as carefully prepared and
staged as a stage play. If the style appeal can be used to
advantage in sales hanging fire or in sight, use the brains of
the entire organization to find out how to do it.
As an alternative procedure to that suggested in 4 above, the following
may be preferred by some group leaders:
Appoint three style leaders, or divide the entire force into three
style committees, to deal respectively with _(a)_ the early
European styles, from the Renaissance to William and Mary; _(b)_
the eighteenth century European styles; and _(c)_ the American
styles. These leaders or committees should be instructed to go
through the stock, assign as many pieces as possible to the
various historic periods, and be prepared to give the reasons for
these assignments to the whole group. In a large stock, limit the
assignment to living room furniture only.
5. _Assignment of practice work_ (5 minutes):
Typed forms prepared about as follows should be distributed at this
time:
Historic style_____________ Name of salesman________________________
Approximate dates of beginning and end______________________________
Reigning monarch____________________________________________________
Principal characteristics of the style______________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Details of construction, ornament, and decorative practice__________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Other styles more or less closely related to this one_______________
____________________________________________________________________
Pieces in our own stock which can be assigned to this style. Give number,
article, and finish_________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Criticism and comment by Mr. (Name of second salesman to be filled
in later)___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Fill in one of these sheets with a different style for each salesman.
Choose only the styles important for your own business. Hand these
forms out with the request that they be filled in after careful study.
Appendix D.--THE LEADING FURNITURE WOODS
_Acacia._--Africa, Australia, and generally throughout the warmer
regions of the globe. The 550 species of acacia include several
valuable timber woods, among them the Australian blackwood and
acacia koa (see Koa) of the Sandwich Islands. Acacia was used as
a furniture wood in the Byzantine and Romanesque styles more than
1,200 years ago.
_Amaranth._--Chiefly from British Guiana, South America. Also
known as purpleheart tree and violet wood. It is of fair size;
wood heavy, hard, and of a deep purple color not fast to light;
used in marquetry embellishment of Louis XV furniture, and still
popular in fine furniture.
_Amboyna._--East Indies, Malay Archipelago. (Also spelled
Amboina, from the island of that name, Dutch East Indies.) This
beautifully figured and mottled wood has much the color of
satinwood. Amboyna burl, so-called, comes from the padouk tree.
(See Padouk.) It is a rich golden yellow, shot with brilliant
red, and is one of the most costly woods in the world.
_Apple._--The fruit wood, used in Elizabethan England and since, as
an inlay.
_Ash._--Europe, Asia, and North America. A large, widely
distributed group related to the olive family. There are 20
species in North America, ranging from desert shrubs to the
magnificent white ash of the lower Ohio valley. The wood is
markedly ring-porous, and when skillfully finished is very
handsome, either plain or quarter-sawed. Varieties commonly used
for veneer are figured trees of American white ash, English,
Australian, and Japanese ash, the latter known as "tamo." Color
ranges from grayish white to nut brown in tamo; a small fiddle or
peanut figure is characteristic.
_Aspen._--Chiefly from Maryland and the Appalachian Mountains.
(Also known as silver poplar.) Large trees, yielding some figured
logs having a characteristic small block mottle figure. The wood
is of light-straw color with some light-brown streaks, and takes
a beautiful finish.
_Avodire._--West coast of Africa, near the equator. A creamy
colored wood, yielding a handsome figure in crotch or
quarter-sliced veneers.
_Ayous._--West coast of Africa. Cream-colored wood of a slight
greenish tinge; resembles prima vera in appearance, and because
of its low cost is sometimes used as a substitute for blond woods.
_Basswood._--North America. (Also known as linden and whitewood.)
This tree, which belongs to the lime family, has a wood of
cream-white color, almost free from visible markings due to
pores, annual rings, or rays. In furniture manufacture it is used
for plywood cores and kitchen table tops to be left unfinished.
_Beech._--Europe, Asia Minor, and eastern North America. Of
the same genus as the oak and the chestnut, this tree yields
furniture wood of light reddish-brown color. It has about the
same weight and hardness as sugar maple.
_Birch._--North America, Europe, Asia Minor, and northern Siberia.
A hardy, beautiful tree, yielding a hard and handsome wood,
whether in plain or quarter-sawed surfaces, or in the form of
veneers. The wood is of close texture; often has a wavy grain,
producing what is known as curly birch, noted for wavy figure of
changing high lights and shadows.
_Bosse._--Africa, French Ivory Coast. This large tree, closely
resembling the cedar, has a wood light red or pink in color,
which takes an excellent finish. It is used in America only as a
veneer.
_Boxwood._--Europe, North America, and the West Indies. An
extremely heavy, tough, close-grained wood, white or pale
yellow in color, used in making musical instruments and also in
furniture inlay.
_Bubinga._--West coast of Africa. Closely related to the rosewood,
and its equal in weight, hardness, and capacity to take a high
polish. The wood is slightly darker than mahogany. The veneer is
usually striped, but sometimes figured, with a gorgeous black
mottle. (See Kewazingo.)
_Butternut._--North Central United States. (Also known as white
walnut.) This relatively small tree has a short trunk which makes
it difficult to get veneer logs of good length and free from
knots.
_Cedar._--Asia, Africa, and North America. The cedar of Lebanon has
been a favorite with poets and painters for thousands of years.
Other famous members of this family are the deodar or "god tree"
of the Himalayas, and the thuya. Among the American varieties are
the incense or white cedar, the Port Oxford or Oregon cedar, and
the red or American cedar. Cedar was used as a furniture wood in
ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia almost 4,000 years ago.
_Cherry._--Europe and North America. This fruit wood is now rare
and little used in furniture making but it is highly valued by
cabinet makers by reason of its handsome fine-grained texture,
its freedom from warping, and its capacity to take a high polish.
_Chestnut._--Europe and North America. The wood is closely allied
to that of the oak, which it resembles in general appearance,
though it is softer and the medullary rays are finer and less
pronounced. Ideal for lumber cores of hardwood plywood. Decay
resistant; easily glued and easy to work. The blight in no way
subtracts from the quality of the wood, but it has decreased the
amount now available.
_Cypress._--Europe, Asia, and North America. The common cypress
is straight, tapering, and stately, but dark and forbidding in
appearance. The wood is hard, close-grained, of a rich reddish
hue and durable. A veneer of cypress stumps, with a highly
intricate grain, is used in furniture making under the name of
_faux satine_, or false satin.
_Deal._--Scotland. The Scotch fir, used to some extent in
Elizabethan England and later as a furniture wood.
_Ebony._--India, East Indies, and Ceylon. Accurately, the black,
heavy heartwood of a genus of tropical trees. According to legend
the wood was used by the ancient kings of India not only for
scepters and images, but also as drinking cups. Macassar ebony,
so named from Macassar, seaport of the island of Celebes, Dutch
East Indies, is notable for its close grain, intense hardness and
rich hazel brown color, striped or mottled with black. It is much
used in this country, where it is often known as "marblewood."
_Elm._--Europe, Asia, and North America. A noble and beautiful
tree, widely distributed in the north temperate zone. In this
country white elm is chiefly important for furniture, with some
use of rock elm and slippery elm. The wood is hard, ranging in
color from reddish brown at the heart to white sap wood, and
has a fine wavelike grain when plain sawed. The richly figured
leather-brown burl veneers made from trunk burls of elms from the
Carpathian mountains, in central Europe, are among the costliest
of cabinet woods.
_Goncalo alves._--Brazil. A hard and beautiful wood, closely
related to rosewood. It has a rosy straw color, streaked with
dark brown and black; is both sawed and sliced on the quarter,
and is used for the same purposes as Macassar ebony.
_Greywood or Silver Greywood._--See Harewood.
_Gum._--United States. The term gum tree is applied to several
unrelated gum-bearing trees in the United States, of which the
wood of the red gum is chiefly used for furniture. It has a
close grain, uniform texture, white sapwood, and reddish brown
heartwood, the latter sometimes containing dark streaks, and
known in the trade as figured gum. Tupelo gum and black gum have
almost the same texture as red gum, but are white or warm gray in
color. Gumwood was formerly called satin walnut in this country
and still bears that name in England. Red gum is one of the most
widely used hardwoods for plywood and ranks second among native
hardwoods in production of face veneers and first in production
of utility or commercial veneers. The sap wood is commonly called
"sap gum."
_Harewood_ (artificial).--England and the Continent. Harewood,
a West Indies wood now practically extinct, was much used by
eighteenth century cabinet makers. Artificial harewood, also
known as silver grey-wood, is made from carefully chosen English
curly maple, known there as sycamore. The logs are first cut into
planks and air-dried for three months; then cut into veneer and
dyed with iron salts in huge tanks under pressure, which produces
a beautiful silver grey wood with a slightly metallic sheen. It
is one of the most costly veneers.
_Holly._--England. English white holly has been used since the
time of Elizabeth for inlays. The thin veneers, having an
exceptionally close texture, can be dyed to various colors. It is
similar in appearance and use to boxwood, but less expensive.
_Iroko._--Africa. Though not of the teak family, this wood is
called African teak. It is hard, firm, of the color of a ripe
cucumber, and in veneers has a waxy figure.
_Kewazingo._--Africa. A veneer made in France from a species of
bubinga, and cut in a peculiar way to a wavy figure. It is used
as a decorative as well as a base wood in tables and case goods.
_Khaya._--Africa. (African mahogany.) See Mahogany.
_Koa._--Hawaiian Islands. Belonging to the acacia family, the koa
is the most valuable Hawaiian tree. Its beautiful wood is of
golden color, sometimes streaked with black or brown. Most logs
have some figure and many have a pronounced ripple grain in
veneers.
_Kingwood._--British Guiana, South America. A heavy wood, related
to the rosewood, and sometimes called violet wood because of its
color. It is chiefly used in the form of veneers sawed from small
logs, about the size of fence posts.
_Koko._--Andaman Islands, East Indies. The East India walnut; has
a hard, smooth texture similar to koa; not much figure, but a
narrow prominent stripe when quartered; nut brown color.
_Lacewood._--Australia. (Also known as silky or Australian oak
or selano.) This wood of a light, rosy color has pronounced
medullary rays, and when quartered yields a beautiful effect of
grain strikingly similar to that of coarse lace.
_Lauaan._--Philippine Islands. (Pronounced la-wan', with both a's
as in "arm".) A tall tree native to the Philippines, the wood of
which bears a marked resemblance to mahogany. Formerly marketed
as "Philippine mahogany," and now as red lauaan.
_Laurelwood._--Andaman Islands, East Indies. Related to koko, and
one of the finest timbers of the East. Laurelwood is a highly
figured wood, gray with black stripes, and with a wavy grain.
_Lime._--Europe. (Also known as linden, the North American variety
is basswood.) A soft, white wood, extraordinarily well adapted
for carving in high relief or in the round.
_Macassar._--See Ebony. (Often, and properly, spelled Makassar.)
Makassar oil, originally produced from the sandalwood of
Makassar, was so much used as a hair dressing in Victorian
England that it gave rise to the use of antimacassars or
"tidies," as a protection to upholstered chair backs.
_Magnolia._--Southeast United States. Also species are found in
Japan, China, the Himalayas. The wood is fine-grained, fairly
hard, white at the sap and of a pale yellowish or greenish tinge
at the heart.
_Mahogany._--A fine cabinet wood, is noted for variety and beauty
of figure or pattern of the grain of the wood. Widely used for
veneers and lumber of extreme dimensions and freedom from defect.
Used for traditional furniture styles such as Chippendale,
Hepplewhite, Sheraton, and Duncan Phyfe, and desirable for modern
styles either in traditional or the lighter finishes.[32]
Three general types of mahogany are recognized: West Indian,
conceded to be the hardest and strongest. Most of this type now
comes from Cuba, but less than 5 percent of the American imports of
mahogany are from the West Indies. The mainland Tropical American,
which grows from southern Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela and
appears again on the Upper Amazon and its tributaries in western
Brazil and eastern Peru. Somewhat milder textured than the West
Indian. A third type comes from the West Coast of Africa. This
mahogany is not quite as firm textured as the American mahogany,
but the trees are large and many are highly figured. Accordingly,
the most of the mahogany veneers used in this country are _African_.
Mahogany wood is strong and tough, uniform in structure and close
or moderately open grained, depending upon the locality where it is
grown. Mahogany possesses a combination of physical and woodworking
characteristics that have brought it into high renown as a cabinet
wood. It is receptive to the finest of finishes. Freshly cut
mahogany ranges from a light pink to yellow, but on exposure to
light and air, quickly turns to a reddish brown or sherry color.
Mahogany has an interlocking grain which, on the quarter, usually
reveals a straight stripe or ribbon figure. To a more limited
degree some trees show broken stripe, rope, ripple, mottle,
fiddleback, and blister figures and various combinations of these
figures. Outstanding are the crotch and swirl figures obtained from
sections of the trunk immediately beneath a fork or crotch in the
tree. Mahogany does not produce clearly defined annual growth rings
common to trees of the temperate zone. Consequently, the shell or
leaf pattern in flat cut mahogany is due to the interlocking grain
rather than to annual growth rings.
_Maidou._--Burma and Indo-China. This tree is closely related to
the amboyna, but has a coarser figure and a darker brown color.
Maidou burls are hard, sound, and valuable.
_Makore._--Africa, West Coast. (Also known as African cherry.) A
large tree, yielding a furniture wood similar in texture and
coloring to our cherry, but frequently revealing a strong black
mottle.
_Madrone._--California and Oregon. (Also called Madrona.) Chiefly
used in in the form of burl veneer, which has a tough hard
surface, intricately veined figure, and rose-pink color.
_Maple._--North temperate zone. There are about 150 species in the
maple family, of which 13 are native to North America. The sugar
maple (also known as hard maple and rock maple) is a magnificent
tree which sometimes attains a height of 120 feet. The wood is
heavy, hard and of fine grain, as is that of the black maple.
In veneers the maples yield many beautiful effects, including
curly maple, bird's-eye maple, and the remarkable maple burls
from Oregon trees. With the "natural" finish it is principally
used for bedroom, porch, and kitchen furniture. Occasionally it
is used in combination with other woods for exposed parts which
are stained or painted and for interior parts where strength or
rigidity are essential.
_Marblewood_ or _Marble-heart_.--See Ebony.
_Movingue._--Africa, west coast. A straw-colored wood resembling
Java teak, but more yellow in color. In veneers it produces
mottled wood and fine feather crotches.
_Myrtle._--Northern California and Oregon. A greenish-yellow wood,
which when used in veneers has the peculiarity of showing the
characteristic figuration of plain, butt, and burl woods in a
single small area. Chiefly used in burls.
_Narra._--Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. Red narra varies
in color from deep red shadings to attractive rose tint. Yellow
narra ranges through the brilliant browns to golden yellow.
When cut on the quarter the appearance is not unlike quartered
unfigured satinwood.
_New Guinea Wood._--A recent popular importation. Brown to light
gray with definite black lines. Large trees produce wide, long
veneers. A highly figured wood with straight narrow stripe.
Resembles oriental wood, but slightly lighter. Usually cut on the
quarter.
_Oak._--North temperate zone. Of the hundreds of species of oak,
84 are found in the United States. Some of the splendid forest
oaks reach a height of 150 feet. In the trade, oak lumber is
classified as _white oak_ (cut chiefly from the white, chestnut,
post, burr, over-cup, and swamp chestnut oaks), and _red oak_
(cut chiefly from the red, Shumard red, scarlet, black, and
yellow oaks).
English brown oak is taken from certain English white oak trees,
the wood of which has become brown from an infection of microscopic
fungus which feeds on the tannin in the wood, leaving a brown
residue which gives the wood the appearance of fine tortoise shell.
Many of these trees were sturdy specimens hundreds of years before
the Norman conquest in the year 1066.
Pollard oak is the term applied by English cabinet makers to oak
burls. The veneers are choice and costly. Its uses are legion, but
in fine furniture it has great strength, durability and attractive
appearance.
_Oriental wood._--Queensland, Australia. (Also known as Queensland
or Australian "walnut.") These huge trees resemble the Australian
silky oak and the American blue beech. The wood, which is
comparatively new on the American market, resembles walnut
in appearance, and the veneers, quarter cut, yield stripe,
fiddleback, and mottled effects.
_Padouk._--Burma and the Andaman Islands. (Also known as Vermilion
wood.) A beautiful wood of reddish golden color with prominent
ribbon stripe. (See Yomawood.)
_Pearwood._--Europe and North America. The fruit wood, much used by
seventeenth century furniture makers.
_Peroba._--Brazil. The largest family of fine Brazilian woods.
Peroba Rosa has a pink color, somewhat resembling that of
tulipwood, while Peroba Blanca resembles satinwood. The veneers
have a fine grain and take a remarkable polish.
_Poplar._--United States. The cabinet wood known as yellow poplar,
whitewood, and poplar in this country, and as canary whitewood in
England, comes from a tall North American tree known as the tulip
tree. The wood is of fine grain, uniform texture, and of a color
ranging from the yellowish white in the sap to yellowish green,
purplish brown, or iridescent blue in the heart. It closely
resembles magnolia, but is somewhat softer. Must not be confused
with the rarer Brazilian tulipwood.
_Prima Vera._--Central America. While not a mahogany, prima vera
is generally known as white mahogany. The wood is of cream color
with a greenish cast, and resembles stripe mahogany in texture.
_Purpleheart._--See Amaranth.
_Redwood._--Northern California. (Also known as Sequoia.) Chiefly
used in furniture in the form of veneers cut from the huge trunk
burls, which yield sheets 5 × 6 feet without defects. The wood
has a strikingly veined figure and a light brick-red color.
_Rosewood._--Brazil, eastern India, and Madagascar. Brazilian
rosewood, also known as Rio rosewood, was formerly extensively
used in making piano cases and musical instruments, and is still
sometimes known as piano-wood. Color varies from brownish yellow
to deep red, with black growth lines. The veneer is generally
cut rotary, but also sliced on the quarter or across the heart.
East Indian rosewood, sometimes known in veneer form as malabor
or Bombay rosewood, is one of the finest cabinet woods. It varies
in color from clear yellow through the reds to purple, with dark
stripes. Madagascar rosewood, also known as _faux rose_, is a
heavy hardwood ranging from pale pink to dull red in color, and
revealing a fine pin-stripe in veneer.
_Sapele._--West African coast. Most Sapele logs are cut on the
quarter and produce a straight stripe that in width is about
halfway between the stripe of mahogany and stripe of satinwood.
_Satinwood._--Puerto Rico, and Island of Ceylon. This finest of
cabinet woods was obtained by the eighteenth century masters
from the West Indies, but little is now to be had outside
Ceylon. Whether straight-grained or figured, satinwood has an
incomparable beauty and fire.
_Snakewood._--Brazil. This term is applied to several woods, of
which the most striking is the handsomely mottled wood of the
South American leopard tree. It is used only in veneer.
_Sycamore._--United States. This name is applied to the native
American plane tree, although the term still is applied to
the ancient Egyptian and Asia Minor mulberry. Sycamore wood,
generally known in Europe as maple, is reddish-brown in color and
when quartered is handsomely figured. It has interlocked grain
and is therefore difficult to split.
_Tamo._--Japan. (Native name for the Japanese ash.) Veneers cut
from figured logs reveal an extraordinary wavy-like figure, and
are beautiful and costly.
_Tanguile._--Philippine Islands. A Philippine hardwood similar to
red lauaan (see Lauaan) and like the latter at one time marketed
as "Philippine mahogany."