Marquetry
Marquetry is a decorative craft technique using different tones and species of wood, as well as other materials to create inlay scenes, images or illustrations, most commonly in furniture or on small surfaces.
The earliest traces of what might considered marquetry are thought to be found in Anatolia, Asia Minor, which is the land that constitutes most of the territory of what is now known as Turkey. Early samples are also associated with the Egyptians who inlaid ivory or precious stones into furniture pieces. It boomed in the 17th and 18th centuries, having somewhat of a resurgence during the decorative arts period and formed an important technique in both Art Nouveau and Art Déco.
Parquetry is a similar craft to marquetry, in that it involves inlays using smaller sections of wood. Some sources describe the difference being that marquetry is more focused on creating images or illustrations using inlays, whilst traditional parquetry creates patterns. Other sources describe parquetry as differing mainly because of scale and context as it mostly uses larger sections of wood to create patterns and is more often than not associated with timber flooring.
Today marquetry, remains a somewhat niche activity but is a profession, a craft and a hobby, with a number of associations and societies across the globe who can be referred to for more information.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Chip carving.
- Parquetry.
- Physical Properties of Wood.
- The Art of Pyrography.
- The best woods for carving.
- Timber.
- Timber vs wood
- Types of timber.
- Veneer.
- Violet Pinwill, woodcarver.
- Waney edged.
- Wood figure.
- Workmanship.
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