Mahogany is a common natural material that has shaped the design and sound of instruments of all kinds, from guitars and drums to organs and pianos. However, the transformation of mahogany from an inexpensive timber originally employed as ship cargo into a fine tonewood has been largely overlooked in scholarly research. Various aspects of the mahogany trade, especially concerning its connections to the sugar industry, to slavery, and to the resulting depletion of tropical forests in the Caribbean region, remain unknown to most music and museum professionals, who frequently handle, document, preserve, and display instruments made with mahogany.

This chapter examines the history and role of mahogany in the musical instrument business by focusing on its use in the manufacture of square pianos, arguably the most popular keyboard instruments of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. First, the chapter sheds light on the main geopolitical, technical, economic, and aesthetic factors for mahogany’s adoption in the building of square pianos, studying extant examples by renowned firms, such as Broadwood and Erard. In addition, the chapter explores the routes, networks, and practices through which mahogany was disseminated in musical instrument making, addressing issues of supply and demand as witnessed in contemporary written accounts. Furthermore, the chapter investigates the conditions relating to the extraction, processing and circulation of this now endangered material and the negative effects of the mahogany trade on people and the natural environment, revealing the human and ecological damage that went hand-in-hand with the production of musical instruments and similar luxury objects. Finally, the chapter discusses how the controversial history of mahogany can be integrated into collection research, outreach activities and museum exhibitions, thus helping to raise public awareness and contribute to the current discourse regarding the ownership and provenance of cultural heritage.