Rosewood or Bois de Rose: What Is the Difference for a Chess Set?

Rosewood, bois de rose: where does the confusion come from?

In English, the word rosewood covers the whole family of palissandres, that is, several species of Dalbergia. Chess sets made in India and sold worldwide therefore carry labels such as “rosewood”, “golden rosewood” or “bud rosewood”, which are sometimes translated word for word into French as “bois de rose”. Yet in French, “bois de rose” traditionally refers to other woods, paler and pinkish, that eighteenth-century cabinetmakers used in marquetry. The result: the same set may be advertised as “rosewood” on one site and as “bois de rose” on another.

Rosewood (palissandre)

The trade name of several tropical woods of the genus Dalbergia: dense, with brown, purple or almost black heartwood, often strongly figured. The English “rosewood” designates the palissandre.

Bois de rose

In French, the name given to several distinct woods: certain pale, pinkish Dalbergia used in marquetry, but also, by extension, unrelated woods (such as Aniba rosaeodora, the Amazonian tree from which a perfumery oil is extracted).

The main species, one by one

Rio rosewood (Dalbergia nigra)

The most sought after and the most protected. Native to the Atlantic forest of Brazil, where it is called “jacaranda da Bahia”, it offers a chocolate brown streaked with black. It has been listed in CITES Appendix I since 1992: its international trade is banned, except for specimens whose prior date is proven. A recent chess set in Rio rosewood should therefore be viewed with the greatest suspicion.

Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

The most common rosewood in chess sets. Purplish brown to purple, dense (about 855 kg/m³), it turns and polishes well. Indian makers sell it under the name “rosewood” and, for pieces with the darkest heartwood, under the name “bud rosewood”, a trade term with no established botanical definition.

Sheesham (Dalbergia sissoo)

A cousin of the previous one, more golden and slightly less dense (about 770 kg/m³), widely grown in plantations across the Indian subcontinent. It is often sold as “golden rosewood”. It is a good wood for mid-range black pieces.

Madagascar rosewoods

Several Malagasy Dalbergia have been over-exploited. Their populations have been listed in CITES Appendix II since 2013, and their trade is subject to an international suspension.

The “bois de rose” of marquetry

Eighteenth-century French cabinetmakers called pale, pinkish, figured Dalbergia “bois de rose”; their exact botanical identification is still debated. Kingwood (Dalbergia cearensis, “bois de violette” in French) belongs to the same family. These woods are found more as veneer on boards and boxes than in turned pieces.

Table: rosewood or bois de rose

Is rosewood banned?

No, but it is regulated. Here are the steps to know:

• 1992: Rio rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) is listed in CITES Appendix I. Its international trade is banned, except for documented exceptions.
• 2013: Malagasy populations of Dalbergia (and of Diospyros ebonies) are listed in Appendix II.
• 2017: following the Johannesburg conference (2016), the whole genus Dalbergia moves to Appendix II. Importing and exporting rosewood products then requires a permit.
• 2019: the Geneva conference relaxes the annotation, notably for finished musical instruments.

For a private buyer who purchases a set in Indian rosewood or sheesham from an established seller in the European Union, the check took place at import. Things get more complicated if you bring back a travel set or ship one outside the Union: ask the CITES authority in your country, because the annotations and their exemptions have changed several times.

How can you recognise real rosewood?

Look at the base of a piece or the edge of a board: solid wood shows a continuous figure, whereas a stain applied to a pale wood often leaves a paler colour at the bottom of the mouldings. Weight helps too: genuine rosewood is markedly heavier than stained beech. Finally, an honest listing gives the name of the species; “exotic wood rosewood-style” signals an imitation. Our comparison of woods gives the reference densities.

Rosewood and chessboards

Rosewood is also used for dark squares and frames. Paired with maple, it gives a purplish-brown and cream contrast that is very easy to read. To see what these pairings look like, Le Palais des Échecs presents chessboards in precious woods where rosewood sits beside ebony and walnut. The other board woods are covered on our page on mahogany, maple, walnut.

Sources: CITES (appendices, CoP16, CoP17, CoP18), Wikipedia (articles “Rosewood” and “Bois de rose”), The Wood Database.