Any furniture experts out there- is this real wood or veneer?

[dottypencilcase]

(Posting here for traffic)

Clearing out an elderly relatives house (they're needing to go into a nursing home) and need a quick heads up if this is real wood (mahogany apparently) or veneer- I have no idea.

Hi OP,

I asked my carpenter DH (he does period restoration and loves old wood furniture). He said it appears to be solid timber, however it may be an old top on a different base. That was done often in the early 1900's. Best way to tell is to flip it over and look underneath the base and the top. If the grain pattern is the same above and below you know it's one solid piece of wood, not veneered.

He also says 'something doesn't look right', eg the stain on the squares not reaching the base underneath, and a few little quirks. He doesn't think it's veneered but would need more pics.

Is there anywhere local you could have it assessed? Nice piece anyway.