Ebony wood - colour and a fascinating story

In the article about framesI also referred to the Dutch style, with ebony or ebonised wood frames. I realised then that I hadn't written anything about ebony yet. I decided to rectify this mistake, especially as it is a luxury wood, still used today, as in the past, to make very valuable objects. I will talk about ebonising on another occasion. I will simply tell you that ebonising is a wood treatment process whereby a wood of another species acquires the dark, opaque colour of ebony.

Types of shakes

Abanosul is an exotic essence that belongs to the genus Diospyros. It has been known since ancient times, with jewellery, cult objects and masks made of ebony being found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. Incidentally, the name of the wood comes from the Egyptian - hbny - being taken over by the ancient Greeks as ebenos.

There are several types of ebony - according to some sources more than 700 - which differ in origin and intensity of black colour. However, they all have black in common. Their range is Africa, Asia and the south-eastern USA.

The most popular types of ebony are:

• Diospyros crassifloraalso called Gabonese or Cameroonian ebony. It is found in West Africa and has a deep black colour.
• Diospyros ebenumCeylon ebony. It is found in Sri Lanka (ancient Ceylon) and India, and is black in colour with slight grey or brownish tinges.
• Diospyros celebica, or the Makassar ebony. It comes from Indonesia and is much more colourful than the other two, resembling zebrano.

The fir tree

Regardless of the species, the tree grows very slowly and takes 70 to 200 years to reach the maturity at which it can be exploited. It is not large, reaching 20-25 m in height and 1 m in diameter. It has deep and strong roots to withstand arid soils or long periods of drought.

It is a solitary tree that prefers stony and infertile soils. The theory is that it prefers these soils because in more fertile soils, where other plants are, it would be destroyed by other species. The bark is greyish grey to pale brown.

Characteristics of ebony wood

Ebony wood is very heavy, so heavy that it doesn't float on water but sinks. Its density is between 950 and 1500 kg/m³, depending on the species.

The section clearly shows the difference between albumen and heartwood. The heartwood is the one that is black in colour, the sapwood is light in colour, even straw yellow. The older it is the darker the colour, and under 50 years the wood is not interesting, the colour is too light.

The fibre is straight and fine, sometimes slightly wavy, with a waxy appearance and matt sheen. The pores are diffuse, medium-large, without a specific arrangement. The annual rings are distinct and small mineral deposits are visible. It has a high oil content which can sometimes make it difficult to glue, but which makes it very resistant to attack by termites and other insects and very durable, being rot resistant.

It can be easily finished. Because it is very hard it can also be polished without finishing. In the end it takes on a fine, waxy and silky sheen. Due to its high salt content, the dust resulting from mechanical processing can cause allergies, irritation or itching of the skin.

How to explain his weight and unusual coloration

The ebony tree absorbs salts from the stony soils in which it grows and over time the channels in the heartwood become clogged and can no longer absorb food. Over time the tree only feeds on what the sapwood absorbs. For this reason growth is also very slow.

The duramen almost petrifies over time and salts deposit on the cell walls, darkening the colour more and more. The fixation of salts also makes it very hard. This explains the very high density.

Uses of ebony wood

Ebonised wood was originally used for charcoal, traditional carvings, combs, arrows, cups, knife handles. After Europeans conquered countries in Africa and Asia and turned them into colonies, they began to exploit the resources of these countries in an abusive and irrational way. Ebony wood thus found its way to Europe as an exotic wood and was used by furniture manufacturers for special pieces of furniture.

Due to its hardness and homogeneity, ebony carves very well. Towards the end of the 16th century, ebony reached France. Famous furniture makers worked on it, embellishing furniture with carvings. These manufacturers began to be called ebonics, and over time the term became associated with master furniture makers. The term ebenist, but now it is more related to restorers of antique furniture.

There was a time when a lot of furniture was made from ebony. Over time, irrational exploitation has led, as in the case of palisander or some mahoni, to the reduction and even disappearance of ebony from many countries. Wood began to be used for smaller works, for decorative objects, cigar or jewellery boxes, inlays and inserts, pipes and knife handles. Musical instruments such as clarinets, guitars and piano keyboards are also made from ebony.

The ebony used for furniture was replaced by other species of wood, and attempts were made to reproduce the colour with the help of staves or special treatments (ebonizing).

Over-exploitation has led in some places to the total disappearance of some species of ebony trees

Excessive logging without a reforestation plan has led to dramatic situations with ebony. To protect what's left, countries like Sri Lanka and India have banned exports.

Studies by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) have shown that species such as Makassar ebony have declined by 50% in the last 3 generations, and Mun Ebony (Diospyros Mun), a type of ebony growing in Vietnam and Laos, has been reduced by 80% over the last 3 generations.

The prospect of total extinction has led many to get involved in its protection, calling on people to think twice before buying or processing ebony. There have been personalities such as Bob Taylor, co-founder of Taylor Guitars Company, who have been involved in such campaigns:

"We arrived in a country and we mined the ebony until we finished it. Literally. Then we moved to another country. And we finished it there too. I say "we" because we're the ones who destroyed the ebony. The ebony wasn't cut down by the people of Africa for their needs. We cut it down and took it out of Africa to make guitars out of it" - Bob Taylor candidly admitted in 2012.

All this has made ebony a truly luxurious species. To give you an idea, the price per m³ of ebony is around 13.000$. If I also tell you that white oak sells for 120$ m³ in the US, the picture becomes much clearer.

One idea to save endangered ebony species was to turn them into bonsai trees. The ebony tree, because it grows neither fast nor very tall, can be transformed into this type of dwarf tree. Such attempts have been made with very good results. Unfortunately this is only a surrogate, leading to the old forests being moved to greenhouses.