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A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK TO MARKETERIE WOOD- STAINING AND KINDRED ARTS. By ELIZA TURCK, AUTHOR OF "HINTS ON PAINTING WITH VARIOUS MEDIUMS," ETC. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. :• • .0 :•• : J 7 • • • • • - n a 1 • u ' • : • 7, 7 • • • • • • ° • • • .1 4! • g o • • la - .n a , LONDON L. UPCOTT GILL, 17o, STRAND, W.C. 1899 Preface. RELIABLE guide to the very pretty art of wood- A staining has hitherto been a desideratum ; it is therefore hoped that this long-felt want may be satisfac- torily supplied in the following pages. By the use of Fretwork and Marquetry. certain stains and enamels, to be presently fully de- scribed, reproductions of almost every kind of inlay can A Practical Manual of Instructions in the Art of be effected ; but in order to do this artistically, some Fret-cutting and Marquetry knowledge of the original work is required, as, for in- Work. By D. DENNING. stance, the styles prevalent at different periods, the ma- Profusely Illustrated. In terials and, in the case of wood-inlays, the stains employed. cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d., by Therefore, before proceeding to the more practical, or post 2s. 9d. rather technical, part of our subject, it may be of interest to glance at the history of the art, chiefly with a view to calling attention to some of the many fine examples LONDON : L. UPCOTT GILL, 170, STRAND. to be found in our national collections. It is surprising how fascinating and absorbing a visit to either the South Kensington or the British Museum becomes if, instead of n • • ° •• • • • • • aimlessly wandering, with wearied feet and aching head, • "•• • • ••• •a• ••• •a' through rooms crowded with priceless treasures, whose VA? '14 -1 very beauty and variety bewilder us, we resolutely deter- " : • ". •-• : • :`: : mine to devote ourselves to one class of objects alone, and • •a• •• • % • • • to do so with some attempt at intelligent comprehension of what we are looking at. 5 X 0 -00011.0.11110106---- Contents. CHAPTER I THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE ART OF INLAY . 9 CHAPTER II PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS IN THE USE OF STAINS, ENAMELS, ETC . 33 CHAPTER III ECAILLINE ON WOOD 55 CHAPTER IV IVORY INLAY 61 CHAPTER V ECAILLINE ON GLASS CHAPTER VI FRENCH-POLISHING ... 71 CHAPTER VII THE CHOICE AND COST OF MATERIALS . 76 IND= 79 7 MARQUETERIE WOOD-STAINING AND KINDRED ARTS. CHAPTER I. The Origin and History of the Art of Inlay. HE earliest examples of inlaid work possessed by T the nation are in the fourth Egyptian Room of the British Museum, some of the specimens thus decorated being articles in domestic use over 2,000 years ago. As " imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," we may fairly 1 FIG. 1.-INLAID LEG OF CHAIR FROM THEBES. conclude that these embellishments were both coveted and admired in those days, from the fact that a painted 9 • ' ' tci Marpeterie Wood Staining. The Origin and History of the Art of Inlay. II reproduction of an inlaid chair is shown in the same case 2,474). Another chair, singularly modern in form, has a as one in real ebony and ivory—No. 2,474. The pattern back inlaid on some rich, warm-tinted wood, with lines on the legs of both is similar, and this is shown in Fig. and bands of ebony dividing upright panels decorated 1 ; the little square at the bottom is bright red, stained with rows of tiny dots of ivory with a crowning tulip- in the ivory to represent cornelian, and, of course, copied like flower. in the painting. The colouring of the ivory appears to have been a favourite device ; we find it again in a very striking and perfect manner in No. 5,897, a box from Thebes, in which the alternate squares of ivory, separated by bands of ebony, as shown in Fig. 2, are stained bright FIG. 3.-INLAID DUCKS' HEADS FORMING LEGS OF AN EGYPTIAN CHAIR. Contemporary Oriental art of this kind is familiar to us through the minute work that comes from India, FIG. 2.-INLAID BOX-TOP FROM THEBES. in the shape of sandal-wood, mother-of-pearl and ebony red and blue, in simulation of cornelian and glazed porce- boxes, trays, etc., as well as through specimens from lain. Algeria and Morocco ; and, considering the conservative Occasionally the porcelain itself is used as inlay—for tendency of Eastern nations in all matters connected with instance, in a draught-board of the Eighteenth Dynasty, design and handicraft, we may safely assume that the in which the squares, all of one colour, are of blue ware, patterns now in use have been handed down from genera- separated by bands of ivory ; in another example the tion to generation, and are of very ancient origin. squares are of some dark wood, with the same intersect- The period of the Moorish occupation of Spain is, of ing ivory bands. course, a comparatively modern date in reference to any Fig. 3 illustrates a very quaint conceit in the shape of Eastern art, and the particular one we are considering ducks' heads, inlaid with ivory, and terminating the legs was known and practised in Asia many centuries before. of a chair in campstool form, also from Thebes (No. It is believed to have originated in Persia, this belief -1111 0101. 12 Marqueterie Wood-Staining. The Origin and History of the Art of Inlay. is being confirmed by a remarkable passage in the Book all over Italy being certain to follow ; also that such a of Esther, where, in the gorgeous description of King beautiful and attractive branch of the fine arts should Ahasuerus's palace, occurs the following distinct mention of share in that general development, revival, and activity coloured mosaic : " The beds were of gold and silver, upon displayed at the period of the Renaissance, was only a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black mar- natural. ble " (Esther i. 6). The Egyptians probably brought The earliest examples of the fourteenth century are their knowledge from Persia, and the Romans, those Venetian and Florentine marriage-coffers; later on, in the pioneers of culture amongst Western nations, no doubt obtained theirs from a similar source. Mosaic of stone and glass, so much employed by them, is, of course, one most important kind of inlay. The term " wood-mosaic" is often applied, and is strictly correct. There are some beautiful examples of comparatively late Persian art—viz., of the seventeenth century—in the South Kensington Museum. For instance, a dark wood cabinet, richly inlaid with conventional floral designs in ivory (No. 2,410) ; another interesting piece (No. 747), a cabinet with a curious resemblance to a Portuguese cabi- net to be found in another department of the museum ; and last, not least, au embroidery-frame, exactly on the principle of our modern ones, decorated with an elaborate pattern in mother-of-pearl. During the Middle Ages simple black-and-white inlay FIG. 4.—TRIQUETI MARBLE: "DAVID-ELOQUENCE AND HARMONY." appears to have been that chiefly in use, and it was (From a Photograph by Miss Davison.) known in Italy as " Moresco " ; another variety—viz., ivory inlaid into solid cypress or walnut wood—took beginning of the fifteenth century, the work was freely the name " Certosina," from the famous Certosa at employed in churches by many artists of note, such as Pavia, the choir fittings of that magnificent church being Filippo Brunelleschi, Giuliano da Majano, and others, the entirely decorated with this work. The geometrical style choir-stalls, sacristy presses, etc., being often richly orna- of the patterns employed clearly indicates an Eastern mented with " Intarsia " of wood. This term was applied origin. It is a , well-established fact that the art was to inlay, either of stone or wood, at this time always imported to Venice from Persia, its gradual spread thence executed in two colours only, and unshaded. The black- T4 Marqueterie Wood-Staining. and-white marble pavement of the cathedral at Siam is a typical specimen of stone Intarsia, a style that was revived under modified conditions by the late Baron de Triqueti, whose last great work—part of the mural decoration of the Albert Memorial Chapel at Windsor— is one of the most remarkable of modern days. A series of tablets surrounding the chapel represent subjects from FIG. 5.-OLD INTARSIA PANEL. the Old and New Testaments, and suggest passages in the life of the Prince Consort. These are executed in various coloured marbles and stones in flat pieces ; the drawing was fully carried out by incised lines, which were afterwards filled in with special coloured cements, and the whole then polished, presenting an unbroken, perfectly FIG. 6,-OLD INTARSIA PANEL. smooth surface. The process was invented by the Baron de Triqueti, and carried out under his superintendence 15 16 Marqueterie Wood-Staining. The Origin and History of the Art of Inlay. 17 by workmen specially trained by himself for the work. cabinet, from which Fig. 7 is taken. It will be observed Fig. 4 will serve to give some idea of one of the tablets what a marked contrast the style of the design presents (" David—Eloquence and Harmony "), and in a slight to that of the fifteenth-century Intarsia. Other instances degree to supplement the above explanation of the mode may be studied in a fine circular table completely covered of their execution, The beauty and harmony of the design with scrolls, griffins, heads, etc., in satin-wood and walnut, and colouring, the masterly composition, and, above all, and a seventeenth-century marriage-coffer of tortoiseshell the noble and deep religious feeling with which the whole and ivory, the side of which is represented in Fig.

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