Ebony

Ebony is a dense black hardwood, most commonly yielded by several different species in the genus Diospyros. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely-textured and has a very smooth finish when polished, making it valuable as an ornamental wood. The word ebony derives from the Ancient Egyptian hbny, via the Ancient Greek ἔβενος (ébenos), by way of Latin and Middle English.

Species

Species of ebony include Diospyros ebenum (Ceylon ebony), native to southern India and Sri Lanka; Diospyros crassiflora (Gabon ebony), native to western Africa; and Diospyros celebica (Makassar ebony), native to Indonesia and prized for its luxuriant, multi-colored wood grain. Mauritius ebony, Diospyros tesselaria, was largely exploited by the Dutch in the 17th century. Some species in the genus Diospyros yield an ebony with similar physical properties, but striped rather than evenly black (Diospyros ebenum).

Uses

Ebony has a long history of use, with carved pieces having been found in Ancient Egyptian tombs. By the end of the 16th century, fine cabinets for the luxury trade were made of ebony in Antwerp. The wood's dense hardness lent itself to refined moldings framing finely detailed pictorial panels with carving in very low relief (bas-relief), usually of allegorical subjects, or with scenes taken from classical or Christian history. Within a short time, such cabinets were also being made in Paris, where their makers became known as ébénistes, which remains the French term for a cabinetmaker.

Ebony cameras

The Ebony camera company was founded by Japanese photographer Hiromi Sakanashi in 1981. The Sakanashi family has been in the photographic business since 1871, when Hiromi Sakanashi's great grandfather founded one of Japan's first photographic equipment stores in the town of Kumamoto, Kyūshū.

Sakanashi is a graduate of Tokyo Photographic University. In the 1970s, he worked as a professional photographer, doing architectural and studio work. He also ran the family business, which by then had evolved into a store specializing in professional photographic equipment. He also led workshops for Japanese photographers in various European countries.

In the course of his work, he became dissatisfied with the view cameras that were then available. He began to conceive of a camera that would have the functions and rigidity of a metal monorail camera, while being as lightweight and portable as a wooden field camera. The resulting 4x5 camera, made for his own use from ebony and stainless steel, eventually became the prototype for the SV45-series cameras that are still made by Ebony today.

Ebony (disambiguation)

Ebony refers firstly to a dense black wood, and hence also to:

Plants and their wood