Indian Rosewood

Botanical name: Dalbergia latifolia

Origin: India
Weight: 880Kg/m³
Cutting: Squares and 2SE boards
Dryness: Kiln dried
Other names: Bombay rosewood, Bombay blackwood

Deep purple brown to reddish brown, more or less striped. Hard and heavy. Used widely for musical instruments.

Indian rosewood is historically one of the chief rosewoods of commerce and has been traded for hundreds of years. Felling is now strictly controlled by the Indian government and the logs are only sold to government approved buyers at auction. Export is also strictly controlled by the Indian Government to reinforce the value and precious nature of this timber so that it will remain available long into the future.

Export controls in this specie go back to the early 1980’s and require the wood to be produced in to a high added value commodity such as veneer or into components for musical instruments and furniture. Available sizes of current imports are therefore rather small.

We were recently able to buy some old stock Indian rosewood that had been held by a Japanese importer since before export restrictions began. This was reimported to Europe via Germany and now represents the finest Indian rosewood boards and the best available sizes in the UK. A must for all Indian Rosewood afficionados and timber museum curators.

Please refer to the Catalogue or Timberline's Shop for up-to-date prices.