I have been involved with the Wandi Marquetry Group for well over 10 years and we have a small membership (not in height but numbers) and met every Friday for a session and a chinwag.
The Marquetry group is an Associate member of The Carvers Guild and indeed, four of our members are carvers too. This leads me to think that some more of you, or your friends, might like to come and see what it is all about.
Here is a little background on Marquetry and how it is done. I have also enclosed photographs of some of the pieces that have been made.
Marquetry
Marquetry is derived from the ancient art of Intarsia, the creation of patterns and designs by the inlaying of different kinds of solid wood into a background.
In Marquetry, the designs are overlaid rather than inlayed and made from thin wood veneers. These veneers are available in a great variety of colours, features and textures, grain and figure are also important as they will enhance the pattern or design
After the flitch has been steeped in boiling water for several days, a huge guillotine knife slices the veneer from the flitch or log in several different ways. Each will give a different figure or grain pattern. Rotary cut, quarter sawn, crown cut, burr (burl), flame (crotch) back cutting and half round are the most common.
A design of your own or an adaptation of a pattern or picture is the basis for a marquetry piece. The design is then drawn onto the back of the background veneer you have selected for its visual impact. Next is the selection of specific veneers for the features of the design. The pieces are then cut out of the background and the selected feature veneer is cut in, this process is called window cutting and is the traditional method. Cutting is done either by a fine bladed knife or an extremely thin Fret saw blade (jewellers metal piercing blades are ideal) or it can be a combination of both knife and blade. Marquetry is the art of making designs, either floral, portrait, geometric or abstract from these wood veneers.
Once all the pieces are cut in, the finished piece is glued to the box, table, or furniture piece you want to embellish. It is then carefully sanded and polished. You have just created a masterpiece or a family heirloom.
The ‘kit’ you will need is a really sharp knife (craft knife) or scalpel a roll of masking tape and a packet of band aids is about it really. The Group has some spare knives for you to use initially and a very wide range of veneers to choose from.
If you would like to learn more about this unique craft or have a go yourself, please come to a session on a Friday morning in the same classroom that you do carving. We will be only too glad to show you how it is done in real time. Your first lesson is free.
Jim van Brink.
See the gallery for Marquetry pictures.