marquetry

marquetry, branch of cabinetwork in which a decorative surface of wood or other substance is glued to an object on a single plane. Unlike inlaying, in which the secondary material is sunk into portions of a solid ground cut out to receive it, the technique of marquetry applies both field and pattern material as a veneer of equal thickness. Wood is most often used for the ground, or field, and to a considerable extent also—when of differing color, grain or kind—for the decorative sections. Tortoiseshell, metal, ivory, and bone are also used. The process was derived from the true wood inlay known as intarsia and reached a high point of development in its use by the Dutch in the 17th cent.; subsequently the French were its chief exponents, with the Boulle family (see Boulle, André Charles) creating a distinctive style through the use of copper and tortoiseshell. Marquetry in England was never carried to the heights of elaboration or technical brilliance reached on the Continent, but in the latter part of the 18th cent. work of considerable distinction and refinement was produced.

Decorative work in which thin pieces of wood, metal, or organic material, such as shell or mother-of-pearl, are affixed in intricate patterns to the flat surfaces of furniture. Marquetry became popular in late 16th-century France and spread throughout Europe as the demand for luxurious home furnishings rose in the next two centuries. Seealso André-Charles Boulle.

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Marquetry is the craft of covering a structural carcass with pieces of veneer forming decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furniture or even seat furniture, to decorative small objects with smooth, veneerable surfaces or to free-standing pictorial panels appreciated in their own right. Parquetry is very similar in technique to marquetry: in parquetry the pieces of veneer are of simple repeating geometric shapes, forming tiling patterns such as would cover a floor (parquet), or forming basketweave or brickwork patterns, trelliswork and the like.

Marquetry (and parquetry too) differ from the more ancient craft of inlay, in which a solid body of one material is cut out to receive sections of another, to form the surface pattern.

Materials

The veneers used are primarily woods, but may include bone, ivory, turtle-shell (conventionally called "tortoiseshell"), mother-of-pearl, pewter, brass or fine metals. Marquetry using colored straw was a specialty of some European spa resorts from the end of the 18th century. Many exotic woods as well as common European varieties can be employed, from the near-white of boxwood to the near-black of ebony, with veneers that retain stains well, like sycamore, dyed to provide colors not offered in nature. The simplest kind of marquetry uses only two sheets of veneer, which are temporarily glued together and cut with a fine saw, producing two contrasting panels of identical design, (in French called partie and contre-partie, "part" and "counterpart"). Marquetry as a modern craft most commonly uses knife-cut veneers: the knife used is therefore of paramount importance. Other requirements are a pattern of some kind, some cheap (i.e. not very sticky) clear sticky tape, PVA glue and a base-board. Finishing the piece will require sand-paper or wire wool, possibly with a sanding block. Either ordinary varnish or the techniques of french polish can be used to seal the piece.

See also

• Parquetry
• Woodworking
• Lath Art
• Khatam
• List of furniture designers
• Tunbridge ware

References

External links

• The Marquetry Society of Canada
• The Marquetry Society of Great Britain
• A Dunn & Son, Marquetry & Boulle since 1895
• Example of Contemporary Marquetry Artists
• Another Example of Contemporary Marquetry Artists
• Yet Another Example of Contemporary Marquetry Artists
• Examples of contemporary marquetry
• More History and examples of contemporary marquetry
• More contemporary marquetry and description of methods
• LathArt How to and Patterns LathArt is similar to Marquetry, but more rustic
• A Short History of Marquetry Includes a glossary.
• Flooring Marquetry
• Examples of marquetry as fine art that can be hanged on a wall