The history of Solid or Veneered furniture
antique furniture was made from either solid wood or from veneer over a carcass.
veneered antique furniture first appeared in the walnut period around 1680-1740, when the decorative effects were produced with walnut, olive, tulipwood etc. The veneers were hand cut and were very thick.
Veneering was a progression of good cabinet making as it improved and new tools became available. This led to decorating antique furniture by applying different types of wood veneers and also if you cut the wood into thin pieces from the tree in several ways giving different grain effects. Veneering was also a less expensive way of using woods, as solid wood became more expensive to buy, but veneering also allowed the cabinet maker to create more unusual effects from the different grains and figuring of the wood.
antique furniture that is veneered usually has a carcass made from a different wood like pine but some more expensive pieces of furniture were veneered onto a solid carcass to show different grain effects.
As cabinet making progressed in the Victorian period, more thin veneers came into use which saved them money but also gave them better ways of producing striking grained furniture like flamed mahogany.
Solid wood antique furniture is usually the better quality pieces and can be mainly seen in the earlier pieces like in the Georgian period but the late Victorians also built solid wood antique furniture called arts and crafts antique furniture.
