Marquetry Inspiration

The creative process by which marquetry is made starts with an idea and this can come from many different sources. What inspires us can come from a photo, a postcard, the newspaper, magazine or some other source. Many visual aids are available in our mass media society. The possibilities are really endless. This was not the case two-centuries ago for designers of marquetry.

For instance, in Paris, as in other European cities during the second half of the Eighteenth-Century, cabinetmakers of modest means had to rely on engravings sold by print sellers throughout the city. These could be portraits, religious, historical or mythological subjects. Botanical arrangements were very popular. Books containing plates of ornaments, vases and trophies intended for designers were also available. The more successful furniture-makers would buy one-of-a-kind paintings for their exclusive use. Jean Francois Oeben, a Master in 1761, had a large collection of paintings at the time of his death of which his favorite artist was the floral painter, Louis Tessier. David Roentgen employed the German painter Januarius Zick for his allegory designs.

The secretaire pictured below has marquetry derived from the engravings of L'Art du Menuisier by Andre Jacob Roubo published in 1774. By looking at the photos one can tell it was made by a minor-craftman for personal use and most likely exempt from the Paris Guild, Corporation des Menuisiers-ebenistes. It was made in about 1775. Notice that the doors overlap the exterior surface of the desk. This feature was not used by the major craftsmen of the time who took special care in concealing hinges. I guess marquetry inspiration is where you find it and this craftsman had not far to look.

Marquetry in a Weekend

Marquetry need not take weeks or even months to create and this fact alone discourages many from pursuing the craft. To illustrate the point to a group I gave a presentation to, I made a marquetry picture (see below) in a weekend. Taking a simple pattern with 20 individual pieces I cut them, and the border, in a few hours. The next morning the front, back and edges were pressed. By evening I was able to scrape and sand the picture. To finish it I applied 3 coats of spirit varnish.



All this was accomplished using materials and methods that have been around for centuries, but the important thing to remember is that this is not extremely hard. Being comfortable in the way you execute marquetry and trusting the medium are, I think, the most important. It helps to know the basics of the craft which can be self-taught or learned in a class. With a little knowledge many more people could be inspired to take up marquetry.

Cause Célébre and Marquetry

In the art world it has been established more than once that it is not what you have created, but who created it. And if that artist is of a character that has made them infamous, that is all the better. Is it possible that marquetry has a cause célébre?

Well, the answer is yes. Let me introduce you to Dr. Samuel Mudd, one of the conspirators, along with John Wilkes Booth, in the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865. He was sentenced to life imprisonment at Fort Jefferson, in the Dry Tortugas in 1867. Here he passed his time away making little boxes, decorating them with different varieties of wood found on the beach of Dry Tortugas.

The box shown below sold at auction in 2005 for $12,075. It measures 12" x 7.75" x 4.5" high. The name Bertha is inlaid into the top with black stained wood.
Dr. Mudd was pardoned in 1869 by President Andrew Johnson in part because of the doctor's humanitarian efforts in treating fellow prisioners during an epidemic of yellow fever at Fort Jefferson.

Computer Aided Designs

Creating marquetry designs on a PC is nothing new. In fact, proprietary software that will turn a photo into line art has been around for about 10 years. All are based on an algorithm that is far from perfect. The problem is that adjacent areas in the photo that have little or no contrast cannot be recognized by the software. This leaves areas of the drawing that have to be produced manually. Besides being cumbersome it increases the time a pattern can be made. When all is said and done the design is saved as a raster format, usually jpeg, png or tiff. Not the best type of file if you want to enlarge it later.

The solution to these problems is to produce patterns in a vector program. They range from Adobe Illustrator (expensive) to Inkscape (free and open source). This is not meant to be a tutorial, but a guide to tracing patterns. First, create a new document in the vector software of your choice the same size as your image. Then insert your image into the document. This will be layer 1. Set the opacity to about 50%. Next make a new layer on top of layer 1. Select the pen or pencil with the stroke width of your choice and trace your pattern. When the design is completed layer 1 can be deleted and the tracing saved as a svg (scaleable vector graphic) file. This format will allow you to increase the size of the drawing without any loss of quality. Once the size has been agreed upon a copy can be exported as a jpeg and printed.

Most vector programs have embedded in them automatic tracing capabilities, but exhibit the same weaknesses as those earlier mentioned. They are useful, however, in producing simple patterns from plain images as shown below. The distortion is inherent in raster images.

Another feature that is useful (and available in most graphic programs) is to paint the elements of the pattern with colors that represent the various species of veneer. This is a way to preview your design in real-time much in the same way as the masters would create a watercolor before executing their marquetry. Tone and contrast are easily tackled in this manner. All that has to be done is to make a color palette that represents the veneers that are available. Be sure to save this palette. Below is a screenshot of a pattern that has had the color added. I use a palette of about 200 colors that represent both natural and dyed veneers. I find it indispensable.

Little Miss Flower Marquetry

It is not often that you find a website of a young lady who is devoted, with passion, to traditional marquetry. She calls herself Spicymini or 'Little Miss Flower Marquetry'. Educated at the Ecole Boulle in Paris, she lives in Essonne, France where she teaches marquetry. Her website is http://marqueteriedart.unblog.fr/ which is in French, but a translated version by way of Google can be found here.

Genesis of Marquetry - Part IV

Siena was a city, more than any other, that had the environment for craftsmen of intarsia, as well as patrons looking for novel decorative arts, to flourish. At the close of the 13th-century the number of inhabitants was nearly 30,000. In central Italy, the cities of Orvieto, Gubbio and Urbino also employed workers of this trade, but they arrived by way of siena where they had learned the craft. In the countryside, at remote monasteries, lay monks also worked at this craft since they were exempted from the obligatory Offices and devotions mandated by their order. They usually worked at the Abbey in which they were attached and sometimes monasteries would hire Florentine intarsiatori from Siena.

The first occasion of large scale intarsia that is found in historical documents is a certain Manuello who, with his son Parit, in 1259, worked on the ancient choir of the Siena Cathedral. This was most certainly Certosina Intarsia (geometric shapes of wood, bone and ivory inlaid into a background of wood) and one of the earliest form of intarsia - the earliest form being intarsia a toppo. They have long since been replaced. It must be noted that most ancient intarsia made during the renaissance were created over a span of several decades. In some cases the original craftsman did not see their completion.

Figurative intarsia did not appear until after 1430 and this by all records was at the Orvieto Cathedral, 60 miles from Siena. The work on the choir-stalls date back to 1330 with this early work being executed in intarsia a toppo. From 1430 to 1441 the best Sienese craftsmen worked on the choir. These include Domenico di Niccolo, Mattia di Natti and Pietro della Minella. This new intarsia, however, had become very popular for those that could afford it - namely the Church and Nobles. It had become so fashionable that by 1472 eighty woodworking shops were operating in the region. One of the innovations that stimulated this popularity was the discovery of perspective painting in the middle of the 15th-Century. Soon this technique was appled to inlaid panels of wood. The two best examples of this work are the Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio and the choir stalls at the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore.

Mattia di Natti about 1430
Palazzo Pubblico (town Hall) in Siena

The Studiolo was constructed about 1480 by Giuliano da Maiano with designs by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. It was completed in a mere 3 years. Around Florence the Maiano workshop was renown for its work on the Florence Cathedral as well as other commissions in the area, but the Studiolo was their greatest work. It contains over 2,000 square feet of intarsia in the above style. At Monte Oliveto Maggiore, the choir stalls and other items were decorated at a later date (1505) by Fra Giovanni da Verona (Fra being the Italian designation for a lay brother). He learned intarsia at an early age and became the leader of the monastic workshops at Verona where the monastery had a church - Santa Maria in Organo. Later he was called to the Vatican to decorate the Stanza della Signatura.His designs were more complex than the previous example and included Polyhedra in various forms. He died in 1525 at Verona.

2009 MAF Exhibition

The 2009 MAF Exhibition in Marseille, France was held on June 25th. This is a national exhibition of the "Best Apprentices of France" in trades taught in vocational schools throughout France. Only level 5 students are eligible. In the marquetry class requirements are that a list of woods must be submitted, pieces are cut using the element by element technique, shading by traditional hot sand and pressing the marquetry on a medium without surface treatment - no finish (varnish, wax, oil etc..). Below is a photo from the Exhibition showing the 4 gold medalists.


General design considerations are that entrants follow a predefined pattern which is shown below. Exact dimensions must be adhered to or entry will be rejected. The picture being 17.3" X 13.3"with the boy's height at 15.2" and the girl's at 14.1". Other technical rules such as no frame would seem to help in judging without distraction. The judging is based on 8 definitive catagories with a total of 200 points possible. Choice of woods and technical execution account for half of these.





This emphasis on teaching marquetry as a trade in France ensures that it will be around for a long time and with it a demand for professional marquetarians.

Riesener Restoration

In 2003, a secretaire made for Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1780 by Jean-Henri Riesener was restored for the Wallace Collection. In doing so interesting facts about the methods used in the Riesener Workshop were revealed. What historians would have us believe is totally inaccurate.

Although the fretsaw had been in use for 200 years, Riesener created his marquetry using the relay technique. This is done the medieval way using a shoulder knife and a gouge. He was not alone in this practice and most likely learned it when he was apprenticed to Jean-Francois Oeben. By the nineteenth century it had been replaced by more classic methods using the fretsaw and 'Chevalet de Marqueterie'.

Another practice was to secure trellis-work and marquetry with pins when glueing to avoid slippage. These would then be removed, the marquetry trimmed and a border (either marquetry or bronze) placed over the holes. This is the same way that Andre-Jacob Roubo describes in his L'Art du menuisier.

Marquetry over time degrades in color, and more so, if dyed veneer is used. Riesener was often asked to revitalize marquetry he had created, sometimes more than once. This was done by scaping and applying a new finish. In those days handsawn veneer could be 1/8" thick so this was not a problem.

Jean-Henri Riesener considered himself more as an artist than a cabinetmaker. In a portrait he had painted of himself he adopts the pose of a designer. After the French Revolution he bought back many pieces of his furniture that had gone out of style with the hopes they would one day become fashionable and comfort him in his retirement. That day never came - at least not until after his death.

Genesis of Marquetry - Part III

The dispersion of marquetry into Europe seems to have advanced no further than Italy and perhaps Sicily. Beyond that the countryside was ruled by barbarian tribes such as the Goths who were hardly interested in the advancement of the Arts. At the other end of Europe the Moors had invaded Spain by crossing the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco and Algeria in 711 AD. With them they brought the accumalative knowledge of Greek, Rome and Egyptian civilizations. But the real problem was that much of that wisdom was not translated from Arab until Spain was reconquered during the Crusades in 1085. It was at that time that western Europe began to learn of new and exciting arts. It was also a time when the whole of Europe was settling into an enlightened civilization.

One of the major contributors to the introduction of marquetry into Europe during the High Middle Ages was Christanity. The monks of the early church had always produced books in their scriptoriums, and most if not all of these were religious in nature, but now they were copying manuscripts on such diverse subjects as biology, architecture and the arts. One example is the Benedictine monk Theophilus Presbyter who wrote the Latin codex "Schedula diversarum artium" or "List of various arts". This was written about 1120 and comprised 3 volumns. Interesting is that the second volumn deals with the production of stained glass and techniques of glass painting. It is well known that the Benedictine monks of Monte Cassino, not far from Rome, were adapt at manuscript illumination and mosaic work. They are credited with having invented the art of painting on glass. In the case of Theophilus Presbyter, he was a skilled craftsman in his own right who often employed 'niello' which is a specialized form of metalic inlay. The monastic tradition at this time was such that the well organized communities of religious allowed time for other activities in addition to their spiritual exercises. Some of these monks traveled about as craftsmen who were employed by various monasteries needing their services. These men also took the time to teach laymen the craft of inlaying wood. The apprentice would most likely have been a woodcarver since this was the only means for inlaying at the time. His tools consisted of a knife, chisel, mallet and a saw. Woods used came from about a dozen domestic species native to their area.

The "High Middle Ages" saw craftsmen moving to the larger cities which had become nerve centers of trade. This is where they would have gone to seek work - patrons sought artisans who specialized in marquetry in this manner.

Japanese Marquetry

Japanese marquetry comes in 2 flavors – pictorial marquetry (Zougan) and parquetry (Yosegi). The craft had been practiced as far back as the Nara Period (700 AD), but it never became popular because lacquer ware was more fashionable. This situation changed at the end of the 19th-Century when Japan opened up to Western traders. Today, the Hakone region of Japan is known around the world for its marquetry and produces almost all of it on the island.

Of these Yosegi is unique in the way it is created. Thin strips of veneer which have been planed, glued and pressed are cut across the grain with a hand saw using various jigs. Several of these are fitted in a mold and glued together. Different designs can be utilized in this manner. The length of these pieces are actually the end grain of the wood. Many of these elongated pieces are then cut into ½-1” lengths and then glued together to form a block. A special plane is used to shave micro-thin leaves from it. Each sheet is paper-thin and measures about 1/100 cm thick. After flattening they are glued to utilitarian objects such as boxes.

Japanese puzzle boxes are one example created in this manner. These can only be opened one way. The number of steps required to do so can number over 100. Each box is different and has its own instructions. They are crafted with precision so care is needed in preserving them. The simple example below needs 3 steps to open and is ideal for hiding small objects. These boxes are pecular to Japan and are made in large amounts no where else.

Pricing Your Small Work

This can be as much work as creating the marquetry itself. There are lots of formulas that allow you to come up with an asking price, but these are aimed at the professional who is doing this for a living. One such formula takes what you expect to get paid per year divided by the number of hours you plan to work minus vacation time. This is your hourly rate. Next, figure your cost of materials for each piece including any waste. To this add your projected overhead rate (yearly expenses of doing business such as machine purchases, tools and supplies divided by yearly hours worked). With these factors you can come up with an actual cost outlay. Now you must figure in a profit. It is generally calculated at 30%-50%. So multiply your cost by 1.3-1.5 and then you have a selling price. The one problem here is if the piece is sold in a gallery their commission will cost you your profit so you end up working for an hourly wage only.

I have personally avoided the above by selling my marquetry outright and let the buyer add his profit after I’ve left the building. To expediate the pricing of my marquetry, I have simplified it by multiplying the number of square inches by a factor of 1-3 depending on the complexity of the marquetry. For instance, an 8” X 12” picture with moderate detail might be sold for $144.00 (8 X 12=96 X 1.5 = 144). Another example could be a box 5” X 6” X 4” tall with marquetry on 4 sides and the top. 2 sides 5” X 4”= 40, 2 sides 6” X 4”=48 and a top 5” X 6”=30 adding up to 118. Because of the construction of the box, I would use a factor of 3 resulting in a price of $354.00. This system is very flexible with no effort made in keeping track of time or expenses. It has served me well. I have looked for a better system, but to date have not found one.

Roubo's Marquetry Classic

Since the middle of last year an attempt has been made to translate from French into English one of the classics from the golden age of marquetry, Andre Jacob Roubo's "L'Art du Menuisier". Written between 1769 and 1774, it details (in 5 volumes) every aspect of woodwork known at the time. Volume 3 deals with marquetry and parquetry. Principle to this endeavor is well-known author Jack Metcalfe. Some progress has been made, but more needs to be done before it becomes palatable for English readers.Christopher Schwarz and Bjenk Ellersen have been working on the same project. To preview some of their translations of volume 1 (Carpentry in buildings) go over to Lost Art Press: Blog. The importance of this work is measured by what our understanding of woodworking, and marquetry in particular, will be when we pass our present knowledge on to others.

 

Another guide to old ways of working wood can be found in "The Cabinet-Maker's Assistant" by Blackie & Son. Published in 1853, it has a section on woods and veneering which will enlighten any woodworker. Dover Publications has a facsimile edition available called "The Victorian Cabinet-Maker's Assistant.

Marquetry Tools of Old

When we think of traditional marquetry we conjure up thoughts of making marquetry with those tools that have been passed down to us over the centuries. The Chevalet de Marqueterie is one such tool. In France, trade schools such as the Ecole Boulle in Paris still teach students the use of this tool as well as others related to the craft. There are a few throughout France who have preserved the tools of long ago. Below are a group of tools that would have been found in a marquetry workshop a hundred years ago.

A pricking machine for making duplicate patterns, marquetry cutters donkey and a treadle operated scroll saw.  Of these, the "donkey" is relative in todays world because it cuts marquetry in a way that modern technology has been unable to improve upon. The photo is from a French periodical from the time in question.

Genesis of Marquetry Continued

When marquetry spread beyond the land of the pharaohs it traveled up the Mediterranean coast as far as Greece where it was called 'cerostrata'. The woods used by the Greeks were oak, cypress, willow, ebony, yew, cedar and and horn. About 700 B.C. Glaucus of Chios invented the process by which various metals could be inlaid and welded together. But it was in Persia during the Achaemenid dynasty (550-333 BC) that a new artistic style emerged. The appearance of this marquetry was rather arabesque and began a transitional influence to orientalism. What made this distinctly Persian was that it was a blend of Egyptian, Greek and Babylonian art. It is relative to the emergence of marquetry in the East, that is to say India and China, that Alexander the Great and his conquest of the Persian Empire had some part in disseminating the craft into these conquered lands.

The Roman writer and architect, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, in his Ten Books of Architecture (80-70 BC) mentions 'inlaid' three times in discribing the embellishment of temples and houses. There is also Gaius Plinius Secundus who says when describing the reason for veneering was a "requirement of luxury which displays itself in covering one tree with another, and bestowing upon the more common woods a bark of higher price. In order to make a single tree sell many times over, laminæ of veneer have been devised; but that was not thought sufficient--the horns of animals must next be stained of different colours, and their teeth cut into sections, in order to decorate wood with ivory, and, at a later period, to veneer it all over. Then, after all this, man must go and seek his materials in the sea as well! For this purpose he has learned to cut tortoise-shell into sections." - Naturalis Historia, Book XVI, Chapter 84.

The Genesis of Marquetry

Historians have traditionally not been kind to the orgins of marquetry. This is due in part to the fact that much of their research relies on written text. During the first part of the present era not much was recorded. In marquetry, our knowledge of this ancient craft is taken from antiques and museums, some of which do not exist anymore. If these sources do not survive today then we also must trust in writings on the subject, but only to the extent that missing gaps can be filled in.

Our present civilization originated in Egypt over 5,000 years ago and, like the Greeks, owe the beginning of their artisan crafts to Egyptian influence. Although appliqué inlay was known in Mesopotamia during the Ubaid period (3900BC), it is marquetry that we are concerned with. Egyptian marquetry first appeared during the XI Dynasty (2133-1991BC) on utilitarian boxes with ebony and ivory. Advancements in technique and materials reached its peak in the XVIII Dynasty under King Tutankhamen (1361-1352BC). Most of this marquetry was in the form of geometric patterns. By this time mother of pearl and imported woods from Lebanon, Syria and Turkey by way of the Mediterranean Sea were in use. The scope and extent of the craft seems to have been well established by the examples found in King Tuts Tomb when it was discovered in 1922. One such example was a large chest veneered with ivory and inlaid with ebony in a parquetry weave pattern. The number of pieces used to decorate this object exceed 30,000.

The tools of the Egyptian craftman did not evolve during the reign of the Pharaohs, but the materials from which they were made improved extending from flint to copper to bronze. It would be another 3,000 years before a melioration of marquetry would be realized.

Jones! The Marqueterie Man

This was the most successful marquetarian in America during the first quarter of the 20th-Century. His real name was George Henry Jones and he was born in 1865 to European immigrants in New York City. Little is known about his early life, but it is thought that as a young man he worked in the marquetry and inlay trade. In 1893 he opened his own workshop from one that had already existed since the 1840s. By 1895 he was already moving into larger quarters. It was about this time that he learned the advantages of self-promotion and began calling himself 'Jones! The Marquetry Man.' He often advertised in furniture trade journals saying "Estimates and Designs Furnished".

In that year, Furniture Trade Review said: "George H. Jones has many machines of the latest pattern... With his improved machinery, new appliances and large force of men he can now handle the largest orders for marqueterie from any part of the country... His immense shop is by far the best of its kind..." The next year Furniture World reported that Jones had "the largest marqueterie shop in the country..." In the workshop, Jones was as much a designer as a craftman. He used natural wood along with dyed veneers of various tints acheived with acid baths and dyes prepared by himself. Other materials that he was known to employ were pewter, copper and exotic woods.

In 1905, American Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer listed the exotic woods stored on Jones's premises as thinya, amboyna, violet, amaranth, sandal, pearwood, holly, boxwood, applewood, satinwood, prima vera, figured maple, plumwood all "bizarre in marking, delicious in perfume and magnificent in color-the collection of a lifetime." Examples of his marquetry are rare, but do exist in the Harvey Ellis and LaMont Warner designed inlayed furniture (1903-1906) of Gustav Stickley. These designs were floral in nature with an expression of refinement. The amount of marquetry purchased by Stickley ran into the thousands of dollars and continued to about 1912. George Henry Jones attained a great amount of wealth and remains unrecognized today because he was known mostly by the furniture trade as a sub-contractor of marqueterie. He died in New York City in 1927.