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.