# Anyone know what this is? Patridgewood?



## Damienw (Nov 18, 2014)

Hey all, i was just wondering if anyone could offer some input on what this wood might be? 

Its from a late 19th/early 20th century japanese chest..unfortunately i'm not the owner of it.
I was thinking it might be jichimu/chickenwing wood (partridgewood to those outside of China)

It looks like wenge, though the grain feels finer to me compared to most of the wenge that i've seen and used. 

Its got a thin coat of lacquer on it, so obviously some of its pores are filled, but at the same time, the colours seem to be very much natural and unaltered by stains or pigments (going by a small spot i scraped back ages ago but have since lost track of the exact location of - it all looked the same back then, and even more so now)

Reactions: Way Cool 4


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## Mike1950 (Nov 18, 2014)

Very cool chest- No clue beyond your thoughts on wood.


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## kweinert (Nov 18, 2014)

There's an opportunity there to make a Christmas box, right? 

A partridgewood inset in a pear tree box.

I'm certainly not a wood expert, but looking at a variety of Google images I'd say that your guess certainly has a large potential for being correct.


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## phinds (Nov 18, 2014)

Definitely could be & seems like a good guess. I can't think what else it is likely to be.

Can you get a better pic of the end grain?

The COLOR doesn't look like partridgewood ... more like panga panga.


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## Kevin (Nov 18, 2014)

Looks like wenge to me. One of the very first boxes I made was made with wenge some 25 years ago. I have the pieces of it collecting dust, waiting for me to rebuild it now that I think I understand how to glue it . . . . 

Anyway the wood looks exactly like mine.


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## phinds (Nov 18, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Looks like wenge to me. One of the very first boxes I made was made with wenge some 25 years ago. I have the pieces of it collecting dust, waiting for me to rebuild it now that I think I understand how to glue it . . . .
> 
> Anyway the wood looks exactly like mine.



I was thinking more panga panga because of the relative tightness of the grain pattern. Panga panga looks EXACTLY like wenge except with a slightly different scale factor.

Check this out and you'll see what I mean:

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_discussion_wenge_panga_panga.htm

Reactions: Informative 1


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## barry richardson (Nov 18, 2014)

It does look like wenge, but since it's 100 years old or so, I doubt that wenge was exported from Africa to Japan then...


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## Damienw (Nov 18, 2014)

I possibly spoke too soon on the partridgewood possibility ...these damn bird woods are so confusing at times. 
I'm now thinking that pheasantwood could be a good contender, or, to a lesser extent ...maybe Burmese blackwood?


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## phinds (Nov 18, 2014)

Damienw said:


> I possibly spoke too soon on the partridgewood possibility ...these damn bird woods are so confusing at times.
> I'm now thinking that pheasantwood could be a good contender, or, to a lesser extent ...maybe Burmese blackwood?


Yeah, that's more consistent with the grain AND the color.


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## Kevin (Nov 19, 2014)

I didn't even read your text Damien. I saw the titles, open the thread, looked at the pics, ID'd it as obviously wenge, and lamented the rest of the day that poor Paul's failing eyesight has finally put the kabosh to one of his favorite things in life - IDing wood. 

Mea culpa.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Damienw (Nov 20, 2014)

phinds said:


> Yeah, that's more consistent with the grain AND the color.


Which is? the pheasantwood or the blackwood? ...or both?


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## phinds (Nov 20, 2014)

Damienw said:


> Which is? the pheasantwood or the blackwood? ...or both?


I think it may be pheasantwood. I consider Burmese blackwood to be a non-starter but since you decline to post a better end grain shot as I asked, I'm just guessing


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## Damienw (Nov 20, 2014)

phinds said:


> I think it may be pheasantwood. I consider Burmese blackwood to be a non-starter but since you decline to post a better end grain shot as I asked, I'm just guessing


Ah kay, I'll make sure to add a better end grain shot when i've got another chance to see it again in a couple of days


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## NeilYeag (Nov 20, 2014)

Very interesting piece for sure. The handle shapes are great. Wonder why the key holes are off set rather than being in the middle of the strike plates? Also interesting with all of the metal straps, was this decorative, or do you think structural so the cabinet could hold something heavy?

BTW, my first look I thought it was Wenge as well. 

Neil


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## Damienw (Mar 18, 2015)

Well, a few months on and a nice little development later i'm now the owner of the chest and have cleaned the dust and general filth off most of the drawer fronts.
With it clean i'm now almost certain its either pheasantwood or wenge.

Just thought i'd post some new pics of it.

Reactions: Way Cool 2


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## Kevin (Mar 18, 2015)

That thing is drop-dead gorgeous. The Way Cool icon I used is so . . . . lame. You are one lucky dude to have been able to work on such a treasure and good on you for such a great job on putting the shine back on it.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Damienw (Mar 18, 2015)

NeilYeag said:


> Very interesting piece for sure. The handle shapes are great. Wonder why the key holes are off set rather than being in the middle of the strike plates? Also interesting with all of the metal straps, was this decorative, or do you think structural so the cabinet could hold something heavy?
> 
> BTW, my first look I thought it was Wenge as well.
> 
> Neil


Sorry it took me so long to answer this. 
The key holes are offset due to the nature of traditional japanese lock mechanisms, as the key pulls the sliding bolt down (which is located in the middle of the plate) by either lifting it over a protruding rivet that acts as a stop against the bolt slipping on its own, or in this case, by squeezing the bolt through a bracket that acts to catch the bolt thanks to several small notches filed into the side of the bolt - the second photo shows this reasonably clearly . 

The only exceptions to this are in much later pieces from the 20's-50's which use more or less western mechanisms. 

The metal strapping and brackets are a common feature on Japanese chests and act as both reinforcement and additional decoration in addition to hiding the sliding dovetail or dado joints between dividers. In this case as all of the metalwork is brass/bronze and the construction is of a fairly high quality they're mostly there as decoration and a show of status as copper, brass and bronze were all far more expensive and unusual metals for hardware than the more commonly used iron. 

Here are some closeup pictures to show what i mean in regards to lock mechanisms.

Reactions: Like 1


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## phinds (Mar 18, 2015)

Damienw said:


> Well, a few months on and a nice little development later i'm now the owner of the chest and have cleaned the dust and general filth off most of the drawer fronts.
> With it clean i'm now almost certain its either pheasantwood or wenge.


I think panga panga and pheasantwood are both more likely than wenge but wenge IS possible.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 18, 2015)

Closer end grain shots man....

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Damienw (Mar 18, 2015)

ripjack13 said:


> Closer end grain shots man....


Will take some with my good camera later today


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