How to Tell Real Boxwood from Fake: A Few Tricks to Easily Identify Authenticity

Appreciating Boxwood as a Material: Boxwood timber is small in size, yet its texture is tough and fine, with a warm, pale yellow color. Finished boxwood carvings have a pleasing, uniform color and an ivory-like luster, commonly known as "ivory yellow." Over time, the color of carved pieces deepens year by year, giving them an antique, elegant feel, which is why they are widely loved by collectors.

Methods for Identifying Boxwood

1. Identifying by color and patina: Boxwood carvings naturally change color during storage, deepening year by year. Based on the depth of color and the patina, one can roughly determine the age of a wood carving. The older the boxwood carving, the deeper its color and the brighter its patina; conversely, the shallower the color and the less patina it has.

2. Identifying with "banana oil": The aging treatment of boxwood carvings is done by dyeing them with a kind of "oil hemp color." The color of forgeries is unnatural and lacks patina. When identifying, you can dip a soft cloth or cotton swab in a small amount of "banana oil" and wipe it; fakes will fade, while genuine pieces will not.

Growth Characteristics of Boxwood

Boxwood is an evergreen shrub or small tree. The tree height is generally l to 3 m. The bark is gray, with the outer bark splitting off in regular strips; the stems and branches are four-angled, and the leaves are opposite, leathery, and round, obovate, or elliptical in shape. It stays green all year round with lush foliage and grows very slowly, growing only about one cun per year.

The sapwood of boxwood is pale yellow, with a fine, straight wood grain and inconspicuous growth rings. The wood is tough, with a smooth texture, and freshly cut wood has a faint fragrance. The wood is exceptionally tough and very suitable for fine carving.

Boxwood grows extremely slowly, so it is very hard to find large pieces, and it is very difficult to make large pieces of furniture from it. Boxwood has a uniform, pleasing color and a tough, fine grain, making it an excellent material for carving. It is mostly used for inlay in combination with other high-grade materials, or carved with fine detail into excellent carved works.