Tuesday, October 23, 2012

A Quick Trip Into The Realm Of Marquetry Design

By Kris Abad


Marquetry is not created by painting an image onto a surface. It is inlay art created by taking many different kinds of colorful materials and shaping them into intricate images and designs. The artist may use only wood veneers. However, it is not uncommon to utilize bone, shells, stone, or other natural materials, in the process.

Sometimes this type of art form is spelled as "marquetrie", and there are examples of art like this found in the civilization of Mesopotamia, thousands of years ago. An excellent example is a casket that has been found with images of daily life during that period of time. The casket contains ivory bits that have been transposed onto bitumen. Bitumen is a tar like material that is found naturally, and this kind of artwork is not seen much again until much later in history.

If you look at some of the Italian churches from the 1200s or so you will see examples of intarsia art. Intarsia in marquetry without wood and it uses highly polished stones that are set into fine marble. It is a kind of inlay art that creates intricate and elaborate designs, in the hands of the talented craftsman. You also will find some intarsia work that uses wood carefully set in stone. This has been used to make some finely detailed floor tiles.

Many examples of inlay art can be seen from the 1700s. It becomes the perfect medium for artistic cabinet makers to express themselves. In fact, it is seen as something for royalty about this time. Inlay art becomes very popular in Europe but remains basically for the elite and those that can afford the finer things in life. You also may see many examples of parquetry about this time.

Parquetry is similar to marquetry as it is usually a wood type of creation. However, parquetry uses all kinds of shapes and designs to decorate items. It is not uncommon for geometric shapes to cover the face of furniture, with parquetry design. You also will see this pattern work used in some kinds of tiles.

You might see the terms inlay and marquetry used interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two. Inlay is usually seen in panels that are in cabinets and doors of furniture. Inlay may also include parquetry as there may be repeating patterns inscribed into the panels.

The inlay arts are important to people that wish to restore fine antiques to their original condition. One requires a lot of training and skill to take bits of material and shape them into fine works of art. It can be a lot of hard work but the artist gets great satisfaction from creating something of value from everyday items.

Many people do not appreciate all the talent and work that it takes to create fine inlay art. If you wish to get a better feel for the art, take a look at some modern websites that have marquetry as their theme. You may wish to browse the many examples in online galleries and see all of the diversity in this craft. You also can contact the artists and inquire about their artwork.




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