1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Satin-wood

SATIN-WOOD, a beautiful light-coloured hard wood, having a rich, silky lustre, sometimes finely mottled or grained, the produce of a moderate-sized tree, Chloroxylon Swietenia (natural order Meliaceae), native of India and Ceylon., A similar wood, known under the same name, is obtained in the West Indies, the tree being probably a species of Zanthoxylum (natural order Rulaceae). Satin-wood was in request for rich furniture about the end of the 18th century, the fashion then being to ornament panels of it with painted medallions and floral scrolls and borders. It is used for inlaying and small veneers, in covering the backs of hair and clothes-brushes and in making small articles of turnery.