It is said that the art of veneering has been known since at least the year 3000 BC. The ancient Egyptians were known to have made beautifully designed furniture that was veneered, often in imaginative ways incorporating marquetry and inlay decoration. Some splendid pieces have survived due to the fact that they were buried with their dead together with other possessions in order to provide comfort in the afterworld.

Precious and exotic timbers were not indigenous to Egypt and had to be brought in. Converting them into veneer was the obvious way, as it still is today, of maximizing as much valuable surface material as possible from each log.

The Greeks and Romans continued using veneer to great effect but very little has survived and our knowledge of their furniture is mainly thanks to vase paintings and sculptures.

Furniture making using veneers went on to reach new heights of craftsmanship during the Renaissance period and on into the 18^th. century, which became known as the "Golden Age of Furniture". Today much of the industry has become highly mechanized although craftsmen cabinetmakers of supreme ability still hand make furniture to commission.

The earliest veneers were cut from logs by hand using a large saw and were very thick. For every veneer produced an equivalent amount was lost in sawdust. Around the beginning of the 19^th. century power driven circular saws began to be used, the possible thickness coming down to approximately 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm.

Modern veneers are very much thinner, being knife-cut (sliced) instead of sawn. This not only speeds up production but also ensures there is no sawdust waste. The latest machines can cut down to something like 0.2 mm although the vast majority of decorative veneers are in the region of 0.5 to 0.6 mm in thickness.