Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
January 23, 1792
Primary Source Reference:
Dunlap's American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 23 Jan 1792
Additional Source Text:
Also listed in New-York Daily Gazette, 28 Jan 1792 and Argus (Boston), 10 Feb 1792; General Advertiser (Philadelphia), 20 Jan 1792
Notes:
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus Swietenia, indigenous to the Americas. Swietenia macrophylla is now the most wide-ranging. Mark Catesby depicted Swietenia mahagoni, commonly known as American mahogany, Cuban mahogany, small-leaved mahogany, and West Indian mahogany, a species of Swietenia native to South Florida and islands in the Caribbean including the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola. Mahogany seeds grow in woody brown capsules that can grow to 7 inches (18 cm.) long.
Michael Hillegas (1729–1804), a wealthy Philadelphia merchant, was the first treasurer of the United States (1775-1789) and a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Peale's Common Name:
Mahogany
Current Common Name:
Mahogany
Current Scientific Name
Swietenia
