Unusual bow wood

[Regis]

Does anyone know about the Amourette wood in in the bow at Tarisio #105? I've not hear of this before. Did a google and found it in some knife handles but, that's all.

So far, I've only see one other in the auction that is not Pernambuco.

[COB3]

On google, I see that "amourette" is aka "snakewood"--don't know if it is true. But snakewood is not all that uncommon in bows, and very beautiful, and quite expensive.

[fiddlecollector]

Amourette isn`t snakewood.

I apologise maybe it is. Must be the french term for it.

[COB3]

I accept what you say as truth, especially as I am aware that many woods go by several names. But the following is what I found, so apparently this is one of those where there is some variety of terms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Piratinera guianensis

(syn. Brosimum guainense)

Snakewood, Amourette

The wood is so extremely hard that it will not accept nails, but it has some uses and is imported to Europe in limited quantities (Hausen 1970).

Workers with the wood of this species developed headache, irritation of the nose and throat, nausea and skin inflammation (Grossmann 1920). The sawdust produced salivation and severe thirst and all parts of the tree were very irritating to the skin where it was thin (Freise 1932). This author rubbed a powder of the bark into his own forearm; a burning inflammation developed and left a stain which persisted for some weeks. Hausen (1970) found evidence of quinones in the wood, chemically related to those of Brosimum paraense.

Two coumarins have been isolated from the wood, but phototoxic effects have not been reported as such (Hausen 1970). Alcohol/chloroform extracts of the wood produced sensitisation in guinea pigs (Hausen 1974).

~~~~~~~~~~~

Probably not much help, but the photos from the outfits selling it looked a whole lot like snakewood to me. I'm no expert, and I have only held it in my hands on half a dozen occasions at most. Maybe they are related, or maybe there are different things that go by that name.

I wish I could afford the stuff...awfully pretty.

[Regis]

Acacia curassavica is what I found for Amourette(French) or Redwood(English). I googled "amourette tree".

BUT, when I put "Amourette" in the languate translator it came out as "passing fancy". Maybe that's why we don't see a lot more of it

[fiddlecollector]

It is a variety of snakewood,most amourette bows are on the heavy side ,as are snakewood ones.I think auction houses have a lot to answer for the confusion, as they use the term `amourette ` a lot and the bows aren`t usually as figured as ones you see described as snakewood. Maybe they just refer to not very fancy figured snakewood as amourette.Most amourette bows i see over in europe are either very plainly figured or have the appearance of a type of ironwood.

Another confusion is Manilkara(often spelled differently),which has been in use for years usually better known as Abeille wood and often seen in bazin school bows(also called beefwood,amongst other things),probably responsible for the confusion with brazilwood bows,Manilkara being an asian variety of brazilwood if i remember right.

This link is very useful as it gives the botanical name along with the English,German,Dutch, french and native names of many woods.

http://mmd.foxtail.com/Tech/Wood/

[Quadibloc]

I had first encountered a reference to "amarette" wood being used in bows. Searching turned up references to "amaretto" wood, which could be maple, oak, or elm.

But then I tried looking for "amourette" wood, and my result was specific.

It's snakewood - sort of. Specifically, it's a name given to pieces of snakewood that lack the conspicuous figuring normally associated with that type of wood.

As for ironwood, I see that term refers to several possible species.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Quadibloc
Added note on ironwood.

[Blank face]

19 hours ago, Quadibloc said:

I had first encountered a reference to "amarette" wood being used in bows. Searching turned up references to "amaretto" wood, which could be maple, oak, or elm.

But then I tried looking for "amourette" wood, and my result was specific.

It's snakewood - sort of. Specifically, it's a name given to pieces of snakewood that lack the conspicuous figuring normally associated with that type of wood.

As for ironwood, I see that term refers to several possible species.

You got on an extreme old thread, there was a lot of more stuff about amourette https://maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/search/&q=amourette

and ironwood species posted in the meantime, especially many valuable comparing samples by fiddlecollector, for example here