New discoveries at the wood analysis workshop

Last September we announced a course on the analysis of furniture wood that was organized by the AEM. If this course had taken place at another time, they could have practised analyzing wood of the 16th century from the MADB collection.
 
Taking advantage of the fact that we have Dr. Raquel Carreras, wood specialist and professor originally from Cuba, in Barcelona, we commissioned her to study a dozen pieces that after being studied by historians specialized in 16th century furniture, presented doubts. It seems very technical, but the method that was used (Comparative Anatomy) is rather simple and not at all aggressive with the pieces. Using a manual USB microscope with LED lighting, transversal, tangential and radial photos of the wood are taken, then the photographed fibre textures are run through a database in order to identify the exact type of wood that the piece is made from. 
 
The results from the analysis have allowed for the confirmation of the authenticity of the pieces that were studied, in addition to, their origin and any alterations they have received over the course of their existence. They also helped us to make our final selection on the pieces to be used in future exhibitions and study gallieries.