2nd Scandinavian Symposium on

Furniture Technology & Design

Marquetry
Past and Present

May 2007
Vadstena Sweden
Cover photo: Detail of ‘Scarab table’ by Rasmus Malbert. Photo taken by © Rasmus Malbert.
 This publication was made possible thanks to

Carl Malmstens Hantverksstiftelse

Editor Ulf Brunne
Director of Studies
Carl Malmsten Furniture Studies
Linköping University
Tel. +46 (0) 13 28 23 20
e-mail: [email protected]

Layout Elise Andersson

Furniture Conservator
Tel. +31 (0) 686 15 27 06 / +46 (0) 704 68 04 97
e-mail: [email protected]
Foreword
The Marquetry Symposium in Vadstena 2007 was all over the world. The presentations covered a
the second international symposium hosted by Carl multitude of aspects and were well inline with our
Malmsten Centre of Wood Technology & Design ambition to include both historical, theoretical,
at Linköping University. Since then we not only technical and design related aspects.
changed our name, we also moved to new purpose- Even if the symposium, as intended, covered both
built premises and above all, updated our programs historical and modern applications we conclude
in order to meet future challenges. Carl Malmsten that presentations of contemporary works and
Furniture Studies, which is our new name, is techniques were in minority. It is therefore with
definitely back on track! great satisfaction we during the past few years have
Marquetry has since ancient times been used to registered a growing interest not only in traditional
decorate furniture and interiors. Starting with basic marquetry but also in the use of marquetry on
but intricate geometric patterns in the Middle Ages, industrially manufactured design furniture. Inlayed
the art of marquetry had its peak in the late 18th wood decorated surfaces can today be seen at every
century when craftsmen like Riesner, Roentgen and major international furniture fair!
Haupt produced highly elaborate and artistic inlays. At Malmsten’s we strongly believe that a better
Even though the art and craft of marquetry has understanding of historical aspects is crucial for
gradually declined ever since the Art Deco-period the development of modern marquetry but we
we still find a most living tradition, not least here at also encourage new and innovative techniques.
Malmsten’s. Maybe the time is ripe for yet another symposium
Conservation and restoration projects confront us on marquetry, this time with focus on modern
with problems where at least part of the solution techniques and contemporary artistic expressions!
is hidden in the actual craft procedure. However, We are very much aware that a number of
technical documentation on historical techniques international conferences on marquetry and related
and tools is scarce; so is research on timbers and fields have been arranged since 2007 and for obvious
other materials involved. Many of the presentations reasons references to these are not included in the
in Vadstena brought new findings to light and also articles.
showed ways to further deepen our knowledge I would like to conclude with a word of thanks to
about the noble art of marquetry. Elise Andersson and Johan Knutsson whose stamina,
The aim of the symposium in 2007 was to bring dedicated work and expertise made it possible
together both art historians, designers, craftsmen, to finally publish these postprints from the 2nd
conservators/restorers and conservation scientists. Scandinavian Symposium on Furniture Technology
The interest in the symposium was far beyond our & Design.
expectations and gathered speakers from ten different
countries and some hundred participants from Ulf Brunne
Content
Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics 8
– Historic Objects and personal Work
Silas Kopf

Craftmanship and Marquetry Works in the Nordic 32

Countries from 1560 to 1620
– Examples from Kalmar Castle and Fredriksborg Castle
Stina Ekelund

Style and Technique of the 16th Century Marquetries 40

on the Choir Stalls in the Elisabeth Church in Wroclaw
Christine Cornet

The ‘Amalia Cabinet’ 49

– A Masterpiece of 17th Century Dutch Cabinetmaking
Angie Barth

Marquetry made of mixed Materials 60

– The Conservation Project ‘Furniture in Boulle-technique’ at the Bavarian
National Museum, Munich
Roswitha Schwarz, Stefan Demeter

UV/VIS-absorption spectrometry 76
– A non-destructive Method for Dyestuff Identification
Heinrich Piening

Marquetry Techniques in Paris during the second Half 83

of the 18th Century
Yannick Chastang

Chippendale’s Marquetry revealed 90

Jack Metcalfe

The Marquetry Artist Georg Haupt 102

– Cabinetmaker by Royal Appointment
Per Kortebäck
Different Materials 110
– Visual Exactness, Treatments, Tools
Ulli Freyer

The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral 118

Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren
Iskander Breebaart, Paul van Duin

From High Wycombe to Iran 133

– The Tale of a three legged Table
Paul Tear, Research by Alan Jones

Flowers from Holland 142

– Antique Dutch furniture with later added Marquetry from the
late 19th and early 20th Centuries
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel, Pol Bruys

New from old 162

– Discoveries during the Conservation Treatment of a ‘Boulle’
Style Commode in the Wallace Collection
Jürgen Huber

Continuities and Changes in Marquetry Technologies 168

and Techniques
Clive Edwards

The demand for more Decorations in Norwegian 178

Modernism – a political statement
Widar Halén

A contemporary Use of Marquetry 190

– Traditional Techniques in a modern Context
Rasmus Malbert

An Exotic Cabinet 194

– The fusion of Indian and Persian style
Nigel Bamforth
Silas Kopf

Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

– Historic Objects and personal Work

Silas Kopf

Marquetry through the ages

– a short outline
Furniture has been decorated using contrasting This ragged edge became the teeth. Hammering
materials since ancient Egypt. It is the craftsman’s the metal would make it somewhat harder, but
familiarity with his tools that often dictates the also more brittle. The teeth would break frequently
style of decoration that is used. Tools evolved over and it would require new hammering. Imagine the
centuries allowing greater elaboration of design. challenge of sawing a hard wood like ebony with one
Great craftsmen have also been excited by the of these copper saws.
introduction of new materials. The finest work often The Egyptians were the first to make veneers.
pushes the boundary of craftsmanship. The exotic wood and ivory that were the primary
The earliest existing example of marquetry-like decorative materials were valuable enough that
decoration is a fragment from an Egyptian box in there was a desire to “stretch out” the amount of
the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It dates from coverage that could be obtained from a given log
the First Dynasty around 3000 BC. Coloured faience or tusk. A depiction in the tomb of a nobleman,
triangular tiles are glued onto the wooden surface Rekmire, shows how this was done (Figure 3). The
creating a geometric pattern (Figure 1). log (or tusk) would be strapped to a vertical pole
The pieces are fitted and glued to the background and the sawing would go down until the piece of
and are contrasted with the plain wood surrounding thinner veneer was created. This veneer could then
the design. It is this concept of taking thin contrasting be ground flat and glued to the surface of another
materials and gluing them to another surface that cheaper wood.
will evolve into the sophisticated marquetry of later We have been left a marvellous record of Egyptian
eras. culture through murals found on tombs and temples.
The tools available to Egyptian wood craftsmen There is a mural on the tomb of the woman pharaoh,
largely dictate what can be done decoratively. Hatshepsut, depicting an expedition to a land
Straight backed saws were first developed in Egypt called Punt (presumed to be in the area of present
and this allowed the cutting of straight lines (Figure day Somalia). We are told that the ships are being
2). However it couldn’t have been easy! The metal loaded with ivory and ebony among other valuable
used for the tools was first copper and later bronze, imports (Figure 4). An expedition such as this was a
but there were no harder iron tools. The teeth of the great undertaking and shows how important it was
saws were not filed but created by hammering the to have these decorative materials available to the
metal to a thinness where it the edge would fray. royal craftsmen.

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 4

Figure 1

Figure 3

Figure 1 Wood with faience inlay, Egyptian, 1st dynasty

(c. 3100 - 2890 BCE). Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford, England.

Figure 2 Egyptian woodworking tools, 1st dynasty

(c. 3100 - 2890 BC), British Museum, London.

Figure 3 Representation of woodworking.

Tomb of Rekmire c. 1475 BC, Valley of the
Nobles, Thebes, Egypt.

Figure 4 Ships preparing to return from Punt,

Temple of Deir el Bahari, Tomb of Queen
Hat-shep-sut, c. 1460 BC.

Figure 2

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Silas Kopf

Figure 5 Coffer from Tutankhamun’s tomb, Eighteenth dynasty Figure 6 Ceremonial Chair from Tutankhamun’s
1332 - 1323 BC., Ivory, ebony, and faience, Egyptian tomb, Eighteenth dynasty 1332- 1323 BC., Ivory,
Museum, Cairo. ebony, and faience, Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

One of the great surviving decorative objects in By the eleventh century Islamic culture dominated
Egyptian history is a coffer from Tutankamun’s the area that was once the Byzantine Empire. The
tomb (Figure 5). It looks very similar to the object techniques of mosaic were adapted by craftsmen and
being made by the woodworkers from Rekmire’s spread throughout the Islamic world. The favoured
tomb (Figure 3). In this case the surface is covered motifs were geometric and very elaborate. A minbar
with small polygons of ebony ivory and faience tiles. from Cordoba, Spain is a wonderful example of the
The surface is rich in pieces that all would have use of geometric decoration (Figure 8). This is close
been cut using the crude saws of the era. Notice to what we would call marquetry. The parts are
that all the lines are straight, saws were not yet all tightly fitted (without grout as exists in mosaic
available to cut curves. There is a ceremonial chair work). Most importantly the decoration is overlaid
from Tutankamun’s tomb that were made with the as a sheet on a plainer wood.
exact same technique (Figure 6). The techniques of Craft work in post-Roman Europe was generally
marquetry and inlay were used in the post-Egyptian not very sophisticated. However the Crusades put
eras throughout the Mediterranean area. Eventually many Europeans in contact with the Islamic world.
in the Roman times iron tools were developed and Trade was established and eventually Europeans
that new technology offered a great improvement of started to use the decorative techniques that they
cutting edges for craftsman, but it is hard to say that were able to see on objects imported from the Middle
the quality of work was necessarily any higher. East. Europeans start to experiment with marquetry,
Romans were skilled at mosaics and the Roman and the first examples mimicked the geometric look
Empire was so vast that these craft techniques were of the Islamic world.
spread far and wide. Eventually the western empire Venice was the most important trading port
went into decline but the culture in the eastern empire bringing imports to Europe and it is not surprising
stayed alive. Even long after the Roman Empire was that Italian craftsmen in the area of Venice started to
gone there were craftsmen producing mosaics in fabricate marquetry pieces.
Turkey and other parts of the Middle East (Figure 7).

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 8a

Figure 7

Figure 7 Byzantine Mosaic, St. Eudokia, end of 10th -

early 11th century, Archeological Museum,
Istanbul.

Figure 8a Minbar from Cordoba, Spain, 1137 AD.,

Cedar, ebony, and ivory, Badia Palace,
Marrakesh, Morocco.

Figure 8b Detail Minbar.

Figure 8b

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Silas Kopf

Figure 9 Certosina. Chest c. 1500, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Figure 10 Certosina. Cabinet, early 17th century,
Detroit Institute of Arts.

An order of monks, the Certosians, proved themselves Figurative work is still rigid but is becoming more
to be particularly adept at the craft. The technique sophisticated.
became known as certosina, and very closely follows By the end of the 14th century intarsia has become
the Islamic model (Figure 9 and 10). a highly skilled craft. One of the finest intarsiatori
Certosina can be manufactured using a technique was Antonio Barili. He lived and worked in Siena and
that the Italians called tarsia a toppo. To make tarsia received some important commissions to decorate
a toppo, a ‘loaf’ is constructed where the pattern churches in the Tuscan region. One of his most
shows on the end. This loaf can then be sliced into famous panels is the depiction of his tools, as if they
individual pieces that can then be arranged together are inside a cupboard with the doors partly open
to make larger patterns. Obviously the loaf is most (Figure 13). It is particularly interesting to note that
easily constructed of parts with a polygon profile, many of the tools are familiar to woodworkers of
and therefore the design is going to be geometric. our own era. There is a bow saw, a glue pot, a small
In Tuscany craftsmen started to develop a new plane, and a number of layout and marking tools.
look that was a little more sophisticated than the The focus on the layout tools is of interest because
purely geometric certosina. Small pieces of wood it shows how important geometry is to the intarsia
were joined together to create pictographic images. of the era, when artists were newly exploring the
The first of these looked quite rigid and geometric. mathematics of perspective.
The tympanum of the cathedral of Orvieto (14th There is one tool depicted in the Barili panel that
century) depicts a Madonna and child surrounded is unique to intarsia. It is foreshortened and sticking
by saints (Figure 11), and marks an early example of out the window. It is called a shoulder knife. This
this type of intarsia. tool was used by levering it against the shoulder and
By the 15th century Italian craftsmen have cutting out the individual pieces. This makes intarsia
become specialists at intarsia and are becoming a bit of a hybrid between inlay and marquetry. In a
celebrated for their individual creations. Mattia di picture like this the larger pieces would have been
Nanni was one of the best of the intarsiatori. He was glued directly to the ground wood in the manner of
commissioned to decorate the churches in the region a jigsaw puzzle.
of Siena, as well as some secular work (Figure 12).

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 11 Tympanum, Coronation of the Virgin, Orvieto cathedral, Figure 12 Intarsia picture of Scipio Africanus,
Sienese craftsmen, late 14th century. Mattia di Nanni, Siena 1425-30. Poplar, bog
oak, various intarsia woods, tin and bone,
Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Figure 13 Intarsia Tools, Antonio Barili, Made for Siena Figure 14 Self-Portrait, Antonio Barili c. 1490 – 1500.
Cathedral´, c. 1490- 1500. Now installed in Collegiata, Formerly in the collection of the Oesterreiches Mu-
San Querico d’Orcia. seum, Vienna, Austria, (destroyed in World War II).

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Silas Kopf

Figure 15 Urbino Studiolo, Ducal Palace c. 1476. Design attributed to Donato Bramante, Intarsia
attributed to Benedetto da Maiano.

Then the craftsman would add the smaller details by perspectives are correct. It shows the Italian Renais-
inlaying them. This is the way simple curved parts sance interest in perspective geometry, mathemat-
could be made. The intarsia no longer needed to be ics and music.
constructed of straight-sided geometric parts. The man who is considered the finest of the Italian
Barili made a self portrait in intarsia showing intarsia masters was a monk named Fra Giovanni.
himself using the shoulder knife (Figure 14). He was sent by the church to decorate choirstalls
Unfortunately the panel was destroyed in World War in a number of cities in northern Italy. He was even
II, but photographs survived. Barili depicts himself summoned by the Pope to do some work in the
cutting lettering in a tablet using the knife. The knife Vatican. He was a master of perspective drawing
would have been used to chop out the individual and was able to translate his designs beautifully into
recesses in the background wood. It would then be wooden panels (Figure 17).
filled with contrasting pieces. This makes intarsia The analysis of one of Giovanni’s panels help explain
a bit of a hybrid between inlay and marquetry. In how most intarsia was constructed (Figure 18).
a picture like this the larger pieces would have Horizontal boards were nailed to structural boards.
been glued directly on the substrate wood. One of These horizontal pieces become the ground for the
the most sophisticated works of intarsia was the intarsia. Panel parts, such as the cupboard doors,
illusionary room made for the Ducal Palace in Urbino could be assembled before gluing to the backing
in 1476 (Figure 15). All the walls are decorated with boards. Note that most of the parts are polygons and
illusionary marquetry. There are open cupboards, could have easily been cut with straight saws. The
windows and landscapes, statues sitting in niches, key is in the design and choice of the contrasting
etc. After the Urbino room was completed the Duke woods parts that would make the illusion work. The
commissioned a similar room for his palace in Gubbio grosser parts were glued (and sometimes nailed) to
(Figure 16). It has been restored and is now an the backing boards. Finally the details were added.
important part of the collection of the Metropolitan It is important to note the date of these ‘classic’
Museum in New York. The room (a small study intarsia pictures at the end of the 15th century.
or studiolo) has one station point where all the

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 16a Gubbio Studiolo, Ducal palace c. 1479- Figure 16b Detail of Gubbio Studiolo.
1480. Attributed to Giuliano da Maiano, Metropolitan
Museum, New York.

Figure 17a Fra Giovanni da Verona, Monte Oliveto Mag- Figure 17b Fra Giovanni da Verona, Monte
giore, c. 1500. Oliveto Maggiore, c. 1500.

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Silas Kopf

Figure 18a-b Intarsia construction, Fra Giovanni. Panel with geometric objects, c. 1500, Monte Oliveto Maggiore.

This is just before world trade started to bring exotic schrank (Figure 19). It was made in Augsburg in
timbers back to Europe. All of the Italian intarsia was 1566. By mid-century Augsburg had become the
done using temperate zone woods from the area of centre for marquetry craft throughout Europe.
central Italy. Therefore the tonal palatte was quite Southern Germany was a centre for metallurgy and
limited: Creamy white, to dull yellows, to brown. Yet fretsaws were refined there, both because steel was
the pictures are quite vibrant and that is because the of excellent quality and fine saws were needed to cut
craftsmen so carefully selected the woods to tell the metal parts out of softer materials, such as brass for
story in light and shade, and even after ‘mellowing’ gears of clocks and other mechanisms. From Augs-
for centuries the panels are still vital. The one burg objects were exported through the continent,
‘exotic’ the intarsiatori had was a bog oak that could thereby popularizing the craft of marquetry.
occasionally be found. This timber was submerged A woodworking book written by J. A. Roubo in
in a swamp and the water reacted with the tannic 1772 shows the use of the fretsaw (Figure 20). (The
acid to turn the wood a charcoal colour. technique was probably much the same at the time
In the era after Columbus craftsmen were able to the Wrangelschrank was built). The sawyer sits at a
use some of the bolder colours of wood coming from bench with a vise in front of him. The wood is held in
the tropics. Ebony, rosewood, kingwood, satinwood, place with a clamp activated with his foot. The pat-
padouk, etc. all made their way into artisans tern would be glued on the wood and the piece sawn
workshops by the end of the 16th century. and set aside.
One other development happened in the 16th Roubo also depicted the sawing of veneers (Figure
century that would forever change the look of 21). It was important that the wood be sawn as thin-
marquetry. It was the invention of the fretsaw. A thin ly as possible, because the materials coming from
wire of steel was held in tension and teeth filed to tropical places were so expensive and the thinner
make a saw blade that could cut delicate curving the stock the greater the square footage. The meth-
shapes. The tool was perfect for the Rococo designs od was very similar to that used by the Egyptians to
that would become popular. saw veneers 3000 years early (Figure 3), with the
A celebrated object decorated with marquetry cut wood held vertically and sheets cut off one by one.
using a fretsaw has become known as the Wrangel-

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 19a The “Wrangelschrank”, made in Augsburg, Germany, 1566, Westfälisches

Landesmuseum, Münster.

Figure 19b The “Wrangelschrank”, made in Augsburg, Germany, 1566,

Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Münster.

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Silas Kopf

Figure 21 Sawing of veneer as depicted in Roubo 1772.

Figure 20 The use of the fretsaw depicted in

Roubo 1772.

It was important to get the veneers to a standard sawing out the design and exchanging the parts.
thickness so that in pressing the marquetry picture This work required a fine fretsaw, which had been
the surface of the ground and the picture would developed 100 years earlier and was now the
make good contact. If the wood is too thick it also important tool of the marqueteur. A pair of coffers
acts like a solid wood on the outer surface and will in the Getty Museum in California shows how this
expand and contract with changes of humidity, decoration was used to great effect (Figure 23). The
thereby warping or cracking the panel. coffers are decorated with a striking Rococo design
In the hundred years following the Wrangelschrank in tortoiseshell, brass and pewter. In one piece the
the center for the marquetry trade had shifted metal parts are put in the shell and in the other the
to the Low Countries. Skilled craftsman made brass serves as the ground. (a third iteration of this
highly elaborate furniture with exotic materials design has the pewter as the ground). The surfaces
from around the world. Dutch ships brought not are extremely rich owing to the use of the saw
only timber, but tortoiseshell and ivory for use in technology. This work would have been impossible
cabinetmaking. without the fretsaw.
Pierre Gole was one of the finest of the marquetry A slightly later development of the fretsaw used
craftsmen in Flanders. Eventually he made his way a similar bench and then cantilevered an arm off to
to Paris, where he established a relationship with the side (Figure 24). This allowed several advances.
the royal court and received numerous commissions The saw frame was held on a steady axis and the
for furniture pieces decorated with outstanding frame could be larger. In the 19th century these two
marquetry. One such piece is a table with factors were exploited by designers. Holding the
tortoiseshell, ivory and wood marquetry (Figure 22) blade in one axis meant that parts could be stacked
that is a masterpiece of marquetry art. one upon the other and sawn accurately, with all the
France had become the richest of the countries in parts in the stack exactly the same size and shape.
Europe by the latter half of the seventeenth century. Motifs could be repeated over and over. The bigger
Artisans attempted to out-do one another with their frame meant that larger parts could be sawn easily.
craftsmanship. No one did finer work than André The tool is called a ”chevalet”, sometimes refered to
Charles Boulle. Boulle popularized a technique of as a ”donkey saw”.
superimposing two contrasting materials and then

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 22a Pierre Gole, table, c. 1660. Ivory, Figure 22b The table top from avobe.
tortoiseshell, wood, Metropolitan Museum,
New York.

Figure 23a Boulle work, André-Charles Boulle, coffer with Figure 23b Boulle work, André-Charles Boulle, coffer with
inlay work in “première partie”, 1684-1689, Getty Mu- inlay work in “contre partie”,1684-1689, Getty Museum,
seum, Los Angeles. Los Angeles.

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Silas Kopf

Figure 25a-b Jean-Francois

Oeben, mechanical writing
and toilet table, 1754,
Getty Museum,
Los Angeles.

Figure 24 Chevalet.

France was the center of marquetry until the With this method, unlike the Boulle technique,
time of the Revolution. Jean-Francois Oeben was only two of the parts are used. The discarded parts
another foreign craftsman attracted by the wealth actually have twice the saw kerf between them. The
of Paris. He built beautiful objects for the royal technique produces excellent results for complicated
patrons, including a lovely mechanical writing table pictures.
decorated with marquetry of individual character One of the royal commissions Roentgen received
and repeated motifs (Figure 25). was for a bureau-desk for Frederick the Great (Figure
Jean-Henri Riesener inherited the Oeben 28). Figurative marquetry panels cover most of the
workshop and continued to build furniture with surfaces. He was also famous for his mechanical
great marquetry designs. He, too, mixed the furniture with complicated moving parts (Figure
repeated motifs with the one-off patterns (Figure 29). The mechanics combined with the marquetry
26). Many of the repeat patterns reappear over and made his work highly sought after.
over in Riesener’s work, such as the lozenge (Figure Roentgen was a master of using marquetry in a
27). It was a simple way to luxuriate a surface. The narrative fashion. He was commissioned to do a
craftsmen who cut the motifs were skilled but as set of wall panels for Charles of Lorraine depicting
with any operation that is done over and over, it Roman history. The panels are approximately three
didn’t require the same level of training that cutting meters square (Figure 30) and are considered one of
the one of a kind motifs took. Therefore it was more the great examples of marquetry of the 18th century.
economical to produce. The French Revolution altered the business of
David Roentgen was from Neuwied in Germany furniture in Paris. The aristocracy was eliminated as
and made furniture that was sold throughout patrons. However a new and growing middle class
Europe. His work was particularly popular in Paris did demand fine objects. The furniture trade was
just before the Revolution. His work was decorated changed to fit a demand for slightly less expensive
with very fine marquetry. The marquetry was cut goods. Here the chevalet was a perfect tool to
using the bevel cutting method. Two pieces of wood produce greater quantities of marquetry for use
are place one on top of the other (as in the Boulle on furniture. By the end of the nineteenth century
technique). Instead of sawing vertically through the furniture factories were employing hundreds of
parts the saw is angled slightly so that when the workers, including marqueteurs.
pieces end up on the same level there is no kerf.

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 26a Jean-Henri Riesener, mechanical table, Figure 26b Detail of the table top of the mechanical table. The repeated
1780 – 1781, Metropolitan Museum, New York. patterns such as the lozenge can be seen in many of Riesener’s furniture,
figure 27.

Figure 27a Jean-Henri Riesener, secretaire 1780, Figure 27b Jean-Henri Riesener, secretaire, 1782, Fontainebleau
Frick Collection, New York. Chateau, France.

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Silas Kopf

Figure 28 Bureau / desk, Museum für Angewandte Figure 29 Cylinder fall desk c. 1776 – 1778, Metropolitan Museum
Kunst, Vienna, 1776. New York.

Figure 30 David Roentgen, “Peace Between the Romans and Carthag- Figure 31 Emile Gallé, box with tulip motif, 1900,
inians”, 1779, Österreichisches Museum, Vienna. Musee de l’École de Nancy.

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 32 Louis Majorelle, armchairs with floral motifs, c. 1900 Nancy, France.

One of the biggest furniture businesses in France at The fretsaw was the important tool in cutting
the end of the 19th century was the Gallé factory in marquetry from the 16th century until the end of the
Nancy. Gallé was fond of botanical marquetry and 20th century. Current technology has produced new
used it on much of his work. A small coffer from ways of cutting and the results can be very accurate.
1900 shows the juxtaposition of marquetry and Lasers can be used to cut wood. The design can be
carving in the typical Art Nouveau style (Figure 31). programmed into a computer and then the fine laser
A contemporary of Gallé’s in Nancy, who also used beam can be trained to follow the line pattern. The
marquetry extensively, was Louis Majorelle (Figure disadvantage of the technology is that the set up is
32). A picture of the Majorelle factory from 1906 expensive and it probably only makes sense to go to
shows the marquetry atelier with approximately the expense if there are multiples of a motif being
a dozen chevalets where the marqueteurs would cut (Figure 37).
make the panels for the furniture (Figure 33). The laser can be extraordinary for cutting
The French Art Deco saw a continued use of something like lettering, where the computer is
marquetry to decorate furniture. The workshops already set up to type words. The font can easily
of Louis Sue and André Mare (Figure 34) and the change and the size can be altered with the click of a
workshop of Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann (Figure 35) mouse (Figure 38).
employed skilled marqueteurs to translate the Beside the expense of the making a one off picture
designs into the new Deco idiom. there is one other disadvantage to using the laser.
One of the more interesting marqueteurs of the The edge of the wood is slightly charred in the cutting
era was a Russian immigrant to France who had process. This dark line will show up as an imperfect
arrived in Paris after the Bolshevik Revolution. His joint when two lighter colors are put together. Water
name was Vassilieffe. He established himself in a jet tools may eliminate that problem but the tool is
marquetry workshop and specialized in making more expensive than the laser.
very detailed portraits (Figure 36). The technique
he used was bevel cutting. It is interesting to note
that he, like Roentgen 150 years earlier, considered
that this was the method that produced the finest
results for highly detailed pictures.

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Silas Kopf

Figure 33 Marquetry atelier, Majorelle factory, 1906.

Figure 34 Louis Sue and Andre Mare, Figure 35 Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, cabinet,
cabinet, 1927. 1923.

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 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 36b Detail Vassilieffe, portrait of Pierre Rosenau, 1930.

Figure 36a Vassilieffe, portrait of Pierre Rosenau, 1930.

Figure 37 Laser cutting.

Figure 38a Laser cut lettering, Walden Woods Piano. Figure 38b Detail, laser cut lettering, Walden Woods Piano.

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Silas Kopf

Figure 39 Wendell Castle, stack laminated table of walnut, 1974.

Personal work
I have been using marquetry on my furniture since In 1984 I was able to make a trip to Italy with
I started my career 35 years ago. My first job was some American scholars who had an interest in
working for Wendell Castle, a celebrated American intarsia. They introduced me to the great panels of
furniture maker, who specialized in making Fra Giovanni and Barili. When I returned home I
sculptural laminated pieces (Figure 39). While I was attempted to do some portrait pieces (Figure 41),
working for him I started to pay attention to historic imitating the ideas I had seen in Italy. The Italian
furniture and was attracted to the work of Gallé and work was on decorative wall panels and the key for
Majorelle. They were my introduction to marquetry. me was to integrate the marquetry into the furniture
I stumbled on a book by an Englishman, William design. Hopefully the marquetry enhances the
Lincoln. The book was The Art and Practice of furniture, and vice versa.
Marquetry. In it he described the bevel cutting In 1989 I was able to spend some time in Paris in
technique and I thought it looked like the most the marquetry atelier of the École Boulle, where I
foolproof way of proceeding. Wendell had a scroll saw was instructed in the classic marquetry techniques
and I began my first experiments with marquetry. by Pierre Ramond. I had a limited amount of time in
My first efforts were crude, small box tops. I made Paris and I wanted to learn two things most of all:
many and slowly honed my skills. I started to imitate piece by piece cutting with the chevalet, and Boulle
the French Art Nouveau floral designs. These were work.
excellent to practice on because the floral patterns The value of piece by piece cutting is that accurate
are forgiving. No one would know if you actually hit duplicate copies can be made of motifs. This is not
the line you intended (the leaf might have just been a possible using the bevel method that had been my
little smaller for example), yet the bevel method gave sole way of cutting marquetry. When I got home I
me technically satisfying results with tight joints. built a chevalet and started designing objects where
Eventually my floral pictures became quite I used the ”piece by piece” method”. One of the first
elaborate, to the point where I felt like I was able was a fishscale pattern on a chest of drawers (Figure
to do panels that were as complex (but maybe not 42).
as artistic) as some of the great historic marquetry
(Figure 40).

26
 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 40a Detail, floral marquetry, by Silas Kopf. Figure 40b Detail, floral marquetry, Boulle work, 17th
century, as comparison.

Figure 41a Bricolage, by Silas Kopf. Figure 41b Bricolage, detail, by Silas Kopf.

27
Silas Kopf

Figure 42b Detail, chest of drawers, with Figure 42c Ernest Gimson, Musee d’Orsay,
fishscale patterns. Paris.

Left: Figure 42a Chest of drawers, with

fishscale patterns.

I have also used materials other than wood since I have taken decorative inspiration from other crafts
my return from Paris, as well as taking inspiration as well. I have many friends who are excellent potters
from other sources. We built a dining room buffet and I have always liked the glazes that ‘crack’. The
cabinet with marquetry based on a stained glass underglaze is applied and then an over glaze shrinks
look (Figure 43). All the parts are outlined in a revealing the base color underneath. I attempted to
black veneer (bog oak), giving the look of leaded get the same look on a cabinet that used a beautiful
parts between the pieces. The stylized pattern is of satinwood veneer (Figure 45). I surrounded parts
nasturtiums and the flowers are done with copper, with a black veneer. In retrospect the look reminds
brass and aluminium. The butterflies’ wings are of me a little of a wonderful cabinet done by Ruhlmann,
mother-of-pearl and abalone shell. where he used a rich amboyna burl and surrounded
Another result of my trip to Italy was that I started the wood with irregular circles of interlocking ivory.
doing trompe l’oeil still life marquetry. One of the first In 1989 I was approached by Steinway and Sons to
pieces I did was reminiscent of Fra Giovanni’s open design an art case piano. I chose a theme of morning
cupboards. It is a fall front desk looking as if a cat is glories in ‘windows’ that run around the rim of the
lying inside the cabinet on top of two books (Figure case (Figure 46). I couldn’t help but be conscious
44). One of the things I noticed about Giovanni’s of the famous piano decorated with marquetry by
work was that he would accentuate the illusion by Majorelle. My piano used a rich walnut burl as the
‘layering’ the parts; having one thing rest on top of base wood and a lighter laurel burl as the background
the other and even having parts protrude through to the oversized white flowers.
the picture plane. In my piece having the cat’s tail
coming out of the cabinet and then appear to be in
front of the ‘drawer’ accomplishes the same thing.

28
 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 43a Nasturtiums with stained glass patterns, by Silas Kopf. Figure 43b Detail of figure 43a.

Figure 44 Fall front desk by Silas Kopf (compare figure 17b).

Right:
Figure 45a-b Parabola One, cabinet by Silas Kopf.
Elysée cabinet, Mobilier National, Paris (small picture).

29
Silas Kopf

Figure 46a Steinway and Sons art case piano designed and executed by Silas Kopf.

Figure 46b Piano by Louis Majorelle, 1900.

30
 Marquetry Technology and Aesthetics

Figure 47 “Bad Hare Day”, by Silas Kopf.

I always look at a piece when I finish it and ask

myself, ‘How could it have been better?’ and ‘What do
I really like about it?’ It is this process that hopefully
makes my work evolve. One thing that I have become
conscious of in working on pianos is that the curved
shape of the piece can provide interesting design
opportunities. The case that doesn’t have corners
naturally invites the viewer to seek out what is on
the other side. I used this concept on a recent piece
called Bad Hare Day (Figure 47). The case is elliptical
and the marquetry decoration is a fox being chased Silas Kopf
by rabbits. The background is a striped Macassar Marqueteur
ebony and the lines help lead the eye around the
curves. The nose of the fox and the tail of the trailing
Private workshop
rabbit are each just beyond the long axis point and
this also helps to lead the viewer to ‘explore’. Northampton, MA, USA

Tel. +1 41 35 27 02 84
E-mail: [email protected]
www.silaskopf.com

31
Stina Ekelund

Craftmanship and Marquetry Works in the Nordic

Countries from 1560 to 1620
– Examples from Kalmar Castle and Frederiksborg Castle

Stina Ekelund

Introduction Kalmar Castle

The building of new castles was an important part Kalmar castle is situated on the Swedish east coast. It
of the setting for the Nordic kings during the 16th acquired its present appearance in the 16th century,
and 17th century. The castles, with all the magnifi- when the Swedish Vasa kings rebuilt the castle in the
cent interiors made by the greatest craftsmen, con- style of a Renaissance palace and furnished it in a
tributed to the image of the powerful and cultural continental manner. Today most of the glory from
royalties. I have chosen these interiors to illustrate the renaissance palace is lost, mostly during the
the nordic marquetry work in the renaissance style 18th and 19th century renovation work. Already in
because: the beginning of the 17th century the Royal family
stopped using Kalmar Castle. Kalmar Castle suffered
- They are situated in a well documented envir- heavy damage during the wars and was badly
onment: we know when it’s made, we know damaged by a fire in 1642. Repairs were begun but
who led the work, and we have quite a clear from the end of the 17th century the castle was
picture of what has happened to these interiors allowed to fall into disrepair. During the 18th century
for almost 400 years. it was used as a granary, a royal brewery and even
as a prison. During the 19th century a restoration of
- They are quite well kept. Kalmar Castle took place. The interiors had suffered
severe damage, all furniture was gone and wall
- They illustrate different types of Renaissance panels, ceilings and doors were badly damaged1.
marquetry. The king’s part of the castle was decorated with
marquetry work on the walls and on the ceilings
(Figure 1). A German craftsman called Jacob Richter
led the creation of these interiors. Their panels
were damaged and during the restoration in the
19th century, copies of the old panels were made

32
Craftmanship and Marquetry Works in the Nordic Countries from 1560 to 1620

Above:
Figure 1 The interior of Kungsmaket,
(the King’s bedroom) at Kalmar
Castle. Restored during the
19th century.

Left:
Figure 2 Original panels from 1556-62.
Stored in the attic of the castle.

33
Stina Ekelund

Figure 3 Part of a panel with knife marks on the substrate wood under the fragments of marquetry work.

and these copies are what you will see if you visit The wood spices used on the panels are local like
Kalmar Castle today2. As always for a conservator, plum tree, maple, oak and walnut3. It’s possible to
the most interesting pieces are the ones not shown match the 19th century copies with the original pan-
for the public. What is left of the original panels is els on the attic (Figure 5). The main motives of the
being stored in the attic (Figure 2). Today there are panels are vases with flowers, fruits, leafs, masques,
8 panels (or fragments of eight panels) left in really arabesques, and motives with architectural perspec-
bad condition. Personally, I find these panels very tive.
interesting.
These panels can tell us a lot about the techniques
behind the making of Renaissance marquetry. They Frederiksborg Castle
are in such bad condition so you can see the substrate My second example comes from Frederiksborg cas-
wood and the traces of tools (Figure 3). As you might tle on Zealand in Denmark. The oldest parts of Fred-
see on these pictures the underlying wood has eriksborg Castle were built in 1560 by the Danish
v-shaped marks from the knife and that the substrate king Frederic II and the castle is named after him.
wood is cut in different levels. These motives are The majority of the present castle was built 1600-
mainly cut by using a shoulder knife. All the original 1620 by Frederic II’s son, Christian IV in Dutch Re-
panels have drawings on the blind wood (Figure 4). naissance style. Due to the big fire in 1859, a great
This gives us a hint of the way the craftsmen worked part of the castle has been rebuilt from 18604. The
on the panels. One of the theories is that the sketches castle’s church miraculously survived the fire and
were made on the blind wood. Then the veneers here I can find panels with renaissance marquetry
were shaped, one at a time. The piece was shaped on the sidepieces of the benches (Figure 6 and 7).
to the line, and the next piece was shaped and glued Hans Barchmann, a north German cabinetmaker, led
by the first ones side. This procedure was repeated the creation of the interiors of the church 1611-13.
until the whole surface was covered with veneers. The benches were slightly restored after the fire and
It’s really like putting a puzzle together. the church re-opened in 18645.

34
 Craftmanship and Marquetry Works in the Nordic Countries from 1560 to 1620

Figure 4 Panel with drawings on the substrate wood. Some fragments of marquetry work and
knife marks are also to be seen.

35
Stina Ekelund

Figure 5a-b The original panel and the 19th century copy
(Kalmar Castle).

Figure 6 The interior of the church at Frederiksborg Castle,

built 1611-16.

36
 Craftmanship and Marquetry Works in the Nordic Countries from 1560 to 1620

Above:
Figure 7 The sidepiece of the benches at Frederiksborg castle.

Right:
Figure 8 Detail of the marquetry work.

Conclusion
These motives are sawed by a thin saw as you can It is 60 years between the creation of the interiors
see on the well-shaped curves and the fine turns on of Kalmar Castle and Frederiksborg castle. Despite
the squirrel (Figure 8). Some of the really small piec- this distance in time, the main motives are the same.
es have been placed in the motive by using a knife. What has changed and developed is mostly the tech-
On these pieces the fibres of the background veneer nique behind marquetry work.
have been bent by the knife. The arabesques come The main similarities are:
in positive and negative, a good indicator that the The two interiors were made for the same purpose:
marquetry has been sawed in the Boulle technique to underline the glory of the royal power. They were
(Figure 9). The main motives of the panels are: Vas- made by immigrated craftsmen, mainly from Germa-
es with flowers, animals, fruits, leaf, masques, faces, ny, Switzerland and The Netherlands. These crafts-
arabesques, and buildings and other in architectural men were specialised in marquetry work. The mo-
perspective (Figure 10). The wood spices used on tives can be found in famous pattern books and the
the panels are local (like maple, walnut) mixed with main motives are the same. Fruits, leafs, flowers in
exotic spices like ebony and even snake wood. vases, masques, arabesques and animals are some
common motives.

37
Stina Ekelund

Figure 10a-b Details of marquetry work with comparing designs from Johannes (Hans) Vreedeman de Vries’ pattern book Perspectivia
(1604-06).

Figure 9 Arabesques in a positive and negative piece, an indicator that the marquetry has been sawed using the
Boulle-technique.

38
 Craftmanship and Marquetry Works in the Nordic Countries from 1560 to 1620

Figure 10c-d Detail of marquetrywork with comparsing designs from Johannes (Hans) Vredeman de Vries pattern book Perspectivia
(1604-05).

Notes
But there are also some great differences between 1
Olsson, M. (1966) De kungliga gemaken i Kalmar
these two interiors: slott och deras inredningar. Jämte kortfattad redog-
The marquetry on these panels is made by different örelse för slottets byggnadshistoria. Uppsala, p. 42.
techniques. The Kalmar panels are cut by shoulder
knife. The panels at Frederiksborg are mainly made 2
Björkman, P. E. (1998) Intarsian: i gamla kungsma-
by saw. This change or development in technique ket på Kalmar slott, Lunds University, pp. 8-12.
also affects the designs. As a result of the sawing
technique, it’s possible to make several copies at one 3
Björkman, P. E., op cit., p. 28.
cut, and the motives at Frederiksborg just got more
of everything! The marquetry work on the Kalmar- 4
Paulsen, J. (1961) Frederiksborg slot, Frederiksborg
panels is made exclusively by veneers from trees museum, pp. 2-10.
that can be found locally. On the Frederiksborg-pan-
els the veneers are from both local and exotic wood 5
Ekelund-Karlsson, S. (2004) Snickarmästare Hans
species. Barchmann – teknik och organisation på en dansk
1600-talsverkstad, Linköping University, Carl Malm-
Hopefully we’ll get the chance to continue the work sten CTD, p. 8.
with the panels at Kalmar castle and discover more
about the marquetry work in the Nordic countries
during the Renaissance period. There are still many
questions about techniques, identification of the Stina Ekelund
materials and about the people who made these fan- PhD Student in panel conservation
tastic pieces.

Rijksmusem Amsterdam and

Eindhoven University of Technology
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Tel. +31 (0) 652 84 96 00

E-mail: [email protected]

39
Christine Cornet

Style and Technique of the 16th Century Marquetries

on the Choir Stalls in the Elisabeth Church in Wroclaw

Christine Cornet

Introduction
In a side chapel of the Elizabeth-church, named ally bad influence on the general micro-climate.
Gäthke-Kapelle (Gäthke-Chapel), there are stalls A Polish-German cooperation for saving the choir
in situ since their installation in 15801 and later. It stalls and restoring the whole Gäthke-Chapel was
must be noted, that these stalls were not made for established in 2003 and is now the background
the clergy, but for a rich family, who ‘owned’ the of a restoration-project over several years. The
chapel, and in reverance donated the furnishings. cooperation partners are the Institute for Restoration
Probably the former alderman Erasmus Müller auf and Conservation Torun, the department for
Malcowitz had these stalls made for his family. In the preservation of historical monuments of Wroclaw,
chapel, the stalls are arranged at the sides of the an- the parish of Wroclaw and the Fachakademie zur
gle between the south and west wall in a way that Ausbildung von Restauratoren für Möbel und
the altar or the pulpit is not visible from this per- Holzobjekte in Munich. The objective of the German
spective. They consist of nine seats, the arms and the part of this programme is the conservation of the
high backs whose panels are covered with inlayed original structure and the inlayed panels of the choir
work. According to the style of the late 16th century, stalls.
the structure of the back is composed of architectur-
al elements such as arches, pilasters, and cornices. Condition of the choir stalls
Currently the stalls are seriously damaged (Figure
1). Most of the damage has been caused by firewater - losses and alterations
during the occasion of a big fire in the year 1976. The original appearance of the choir stalls, as seen
Moreover, the walls of the chapel itself were wet, es- in the picture from about 1920 (Figure 2), shows the
pecially the southern wall, which is the outer wall. original condition of the choir stalls with its cornice,
After being reinstalled after the fire, the choir stalls, second tier and front balustrade. Probably most of
standing close to these walls, were exposed to per- the losses took place after the big fire of 1976. The
manent humidity. The marquetries of the south side Elisabeth church belongs to a military parish. On
are therefore in much worse condition than those the occasion of the fire soldiers rapidly took out
of the west side. The concrete floor had an addition the choir stalls and the other furnishings without

40
 Style and Technique of the 16th Century Marquetries on the Choir Stalls in the Elisabeth Church in Wroclaw

Figure 1 The stalls in the condition in the year 2007; the restoration was finished in 2009. Photo:
Joachim Dramm.

History and style of inlayed

choir stall backs
having time to take care of any damages. During the The first choir stalls with inlayed backs are known
repair works the pieces have been apparently stored to have been made in Renaissance Italy. This type of
in an un-systematic way in a depot in the military inlayed choir stalls was adopted during the Renais-
base of Wroclaw, where pieces of many choir stalls, sance from Italian works, of which many are still
balustrades, seats and other wooden furnishings of preserved today.
different churches were kept. Until now only a few One typical example of such Italian Renaissance
pieces of the missing parts have been found there. inlayed choir stalls, are the stalls of Fra Giovanni da
Moreover probably not all parts have been stored in Verona, from the beginning of the 16th century. Its
the same place, so that the most parts of the cornice inlayed backs mostly show still-life arrangements,
and the second tier are still missing. Possibly these sometimes in a trompe- l’oeil surrounding such as in
items can still be found in another depot. a cupboard with half-opened doors.
As the south part of the stalls shows, the choir As we know, the marquetry was introduced to
stalls furthermore have obviously not been reas- southern Germany in the thirties of the 16th centu-
sembled in a professional way after the restoration ry, but the best works emerged in the second half of
of the church, using pieces from other furnishings the century, when the style had already become dif-
and leaving the choir stalls unfinished with many ferent to the Italian one. In other words there were
parts missing, such as the cornice and the whole sec- no more still-life motifs on the backs of the seats, but
ond tier mentioned above. scrolls and strap work typical of the manneristic pe-
Due to the humidity, the condition of the choir riod.
stalls deteriorated more and more during the fol-
lowing years; especially the inlayed parts of the
south side suffered from the humidity and many
parts of the veneers are lost. All the surfaces are cov-
ered with later coats of different substances such as
waxes and lacquers as well as dirt.

41
Christine Cornet

Figure 2 The choir stalls in about 1920 with second tier and cornice. Photo taken from: Heyer, Karl
Johannes: Das barocke Chorgestühl in Schlesien.

Ornaments and style of the

marquetries in the Gäthke chapel
The panels of the south and west part of the choir Both kind of marquetries are composed of a multi-
stalls have different kinds of marquetries both in tude of different European woods, including green
ornament-style and dimensions. Probably the two woods. The panels have therefore a quite colourful
parts were put together from the beginning, as the appearance.
architectural frame is uniform. The style of the mar-
quetries of the south part shows tendrilled scrolls
and strap work, that frame a motif in the centre; for
example a vase with flowers, or a grotesque figure Style of marquetry
with a drapery with lambrequins. The latter appear
in almost the same shape on an ornament print of
of Silesian choir stalls
Jacob Guckeisen and Johann Jacob Ebelmann from The Silesian works show another style. Inlayed choir
1599. stalls of this period seem to be frequent in Poland, or
The tendrilled scrolls with flowers and green at least in Silesia. As comparable examples like the
leaves, covering the whole surface, as on the west choir stalls of Brzek, about 1600- 1620, or the two
side panels, are often to be found on 16th century seat stalls in the Elisabeth Church show, the Silesian
works in southern Germany. In this case too, the or- works are decorated preferably with strapwork or-
nament print of Jacob Guckeisen and Johann Jacob namentation more graphic in character. The colour-
Ebelmann shows the same architectural frame as on ing which is a result of using only two kind of woods,
the chapel panels, filled with strapwork and scrolls is composed of contrasting dark and clear tones, and
(Figure 3). These ornaments are depicted as multi- does not have the colours of other woods, especially
coloured 3-dimensional objects, with interlaced ten- the green wood of the southern German or Tyrolean
drils and flowers and even some birds. works (Figure 4).

42
 Style and Technique of the 16th Century Marquetries on the Choir Stalls in the Elisabeth Church in Wroclaw

Figure 3a Panel of the west side. Photo: Joachim Dramm. Figure 3b Ornament print from: Johann Jacob Ebel-
mann, Jacob Guckeisen: Schweyfbuch. Cologne
1599.

Comparable style of marquetry in

southern Germany and Tyrol
The high quality of the marquetries in the Gäthke century. Not only inlayed cabinets were exported
Chapel and their designs suggest that they have from there, it is known that craftsmen too went to
been made in a region, where such work was very foreign places to craft furnishings in churches or
common. One of the big production centres of in- houses4.
layed work in the 16th century was Augsburg, an-
other one was Innsbruck. Indeed, the style of these
marquetries corresponds exactly to the inlay works
of the contemporary cabinets in southern Germany The marquetry technique
or Tyrol. This means they show the same kind of or-
naments with scrolls, strap work, tendrils and even Generally the inlay techniques were distinguished
the shape of the green leaves (Figure 5). between the intarsia and the marquetry. The first
There are different possibilities how this work- consists in a ground wood which is cut out with the
manship could have come from southern regions to shoulder knife and carved to make the pieces fit in.
Poland. Possibly a Wroclaw journeyman on his per- In this case the substrate wood is visible at the sur-
egrination went to Augsburg or Innsbruck, which face and is a part of the aesthetic appearance of the
were very sought after towns to get the opportu- piece. The latter has a wooden support, which is en-
nity to learn the inlay work2 , and came then back tirely covered by the marquetry parts and thus does
to his home city, in the German speaking region of not appear on the surface.
Silesia3. It is also possible, that an Augsburg master The two terms of intarsia and marquetry are often
craftsman was charged to manufacture these stalls, not used to define the techniques, but to specify the
because Augsburg was famous all over Europe for period of an inlayed work. ‘Intarsia’ is mostly used
this kind of work during the second half of the 16th for Renaissance work as it was a common technique

43
Christine Cornet

Figure 4 Detail of the two seat stalls in the Elisabeth church in Wroclaw. Photo: Joachim Dramm.

in the 15th century in Italy and ‘marquetry’ for the out for the inlaying. Large-area losses of veneer on
18th century pieces as used in France at that time. one of the panels have laid open the substrate wood
In this case we have a 16th century late Renaissance which shows the deep linear traces of the shoulder
work, which is only called ‘intarsia’ because of the knife as the maple veneer was penetrated by the
period in which it was manufactured. But as the ex- knife.
amination has shown, there is, as in marquetry, a This result is in contradiction to the opinion, that
substrate coniferous wood entirely covered by other after the invention of the fretsaw in the middle of
woods and not visible on the finished work. the 16th century, all the pieces of the marquetries
had been sawn out and then glued on the substrate
wood, and thus the inlaying technique had changed
completely by making the shoulder knife obsolete5.
Traces on the substrate wood
But the evidence shows, that even after the inven-
Another difference in technique to the early Ital- tion of the fretsaw, the shapes were still cut out with
ian work is the use of different kind of tools. In the the shoulder knife (Figure 6).
Italian work the shapes have been cut out with the Moreover, the appearance of damaged marquetry
shoulder knife, and the inlayed parts have been ad- works of the 18th century show the same traces, so
justed with the smaller knives. After the middle of it seems, that this kind of marquetry technique had
the 16th century, when the fretsaw was invented, been applied in the same way, up to the 18th cen-
the technique changed, as pieces of the marquetries tury6.
were sawn out. The bare parts of the panel show still more; for
The panels of the stalls are of coniferous wood example the absence of traces of the router plane,
which were completely covered by a thick layer of that were expected to be found there. After cutting
maplewood, which forms the base, that was then cut the shapes into the maplewood veneer (and the

44
 Style and Technique of the 16th Century Marquetries on the Choir Stalls in the Elisabeth Church in Wroclaw

Figure 5 Detail of a south German or Tyrolean cabinet, Courtesy of Sotheby’s. Photo: Sotheby’s Zürich 1998.

substrate wood), they had to be chiselled out. The The examination of the surface has produced anoth-
traces of the chisel left an irregular face on the sub- er result; the edges of the inlayed parts do not have
strate coniferous wood. Probably the router plane compressed fibres. The fibres are even, because
was not used as these faces were anyway covered these pieces have been cut out with the fretsaw,
by the inlayed pieces of veneer. However, the faces which was used in this kind of marquetry, too. The
of the areas that had been covered with the maple- traces of this sawing are to be seen at the rims of the
wood veneer are smooth, as they never had been inlayed parts (Figure 8).
chiselled out.

Traces of different tools on the The aesthetic appearance of the

surface of the marquetry marquetry
The large losses of veneer are not required to discov- To improve the appearance of the motifs, the inlayed
er the type of technique used. Under the microscope pieces were graphically structured in different man-
for example, the traces of the shoulder knife are also ners. The drawing inside the inlayed pieces was
visible on the surface of the maplewood, where the done with the fretsaw. Linear drawings were pro-
blade of this knife had squeezed and bent the fi- duced by cutting several parallel incisions. To pro-
bres at the edges. This can be seen best at the edges vide the impression of more relief partial areas of
across the grain, but only at those of the ground ve- the inlayed pieces were singed in hot sand to give
neer as this was glued on the whole surface and had them a soft shade. This technique was very common
to be cut out for the inlay-pieces (Figure 7). in most kind of inlayed work at this time (Figure 9).

45
Christine Cornet

Figure 6 Traces of the shoulder knife on the substrate wood. The ground was not evened with the router
plane. Photo: Joachim Dramm.

Figure 7 Bent fibres at the edges of the ground veneer resulting of the use of the shoulder knife.
Photo: Katrin Prem.

46
 Style and Technique of the 16th Century Marquetries on the Choir Stalls in the Elisabeth Church in Wroclaw

Figure 8 Traces of the fretsaw at the rims of the inlayed parts. Figure 9 Cuts of the fretsaw. At the top the incisions
Photo: Katrin Prem. have been compressed when the piece was glued in
the cavity. At the left side the piece is shaded by singe-
ing. Photo: Christine Cornet.

Summary
Colour is an important element for the appearance The marquetries of the choir stalls in the Gäthke-
of the marquetry. Besides the colours of the different chapel show the impact of the South German or Ty-
woods there is the green colour of inlayed leaves and rolean style and therefore were probably not made
trees that stand out in the marquetry. This colour is by a Polish or Silesian artist. In this context the Sile-
due to an infection of the wood by a fungus called sian marquetries seem to have been made generally
chlorosplenium, mostly found in aspen and beech in a different style.
woods. This colour is unlike the staining colours, For these marquetries the fretsaw was used to cut
lightfast, and therefore clearly seen on even very old out the inlayed pieces and to produce the drawing
surfaces (Figure 3a). lines inside of these pieces. The shapes were cut out
of the ground, which consists of a panel of conifer-
ous wood with a thick layer of maple wood glued on
it. No router plane was used to even the ground after
Analogy in technique to marquetries in chiselling out the cavities for the inlay-pieces.
This marquetry technique, which is known to have
southern Germany and Tyrol been applied in the 18th century, was already used
According to the stylistic resemblance there is an in the 16th century. Thus it has not substantially
analogy in technique with the South German and changed during the centuries.
Tyrolean works. The same technique of cutting out
with the shoulder knife and sawing out the inlayed
pieces with the fretsaw have also been applied in
16th century works of South Germany and Tyrol. Acknowledgements
Also the use of the characteristic green coloured Many thanks to Katrin Prem for taking the photo-
wood is common to the Wroclaw work (Figure 5). graphs at the microscope and to Joachim Dramm for
his photographs of the choir stalls. Special thanks to
Sharon Gomez and Thomas Häusler for their help
with the english translation.

47
Christine Cornet

Notes
1
One of these panels is signed ‘Sebastian’ and dated Heyer, K. J. and Aengenvoort, J. (1977) Das barocke
1580. Unfortunately there is no further information Chorgestühl in Schlesien: Eine Darstellung der
where ‘Sebastian’ came from. Possibly this is not the Chorgestühle und ein Beitrag zur Geschichte von
dating for the whole stalls. Kunst u. Kunsthandwerk im Barock. Bau- und
Kunstdenkmäler des deutschen Ostens, Reihe C,
2
Hellwag, F. (1995?) Die Geschichte des deutschen Schlesien, Bd. 6. Frankfurt am Main: Weidlich.
Tischler-Handwerks: vom 12. bis zum Beginn des 20
Jahrhunderts. Ed. libri rari. Hannover: Verlag Th. Hellwag, F. (1995?) Die Geschichte des deutschen
Schäfer , p. 49. Tischlerhandwerks: vom. 12. bis zum Beginn des 20
Jahrhunderts. Ed. libri rari. Hannover: Verlag Th.
3
Wroclaw is the former Breslau, the capital of Sile- Schäfer.
sia (Schlesien).
Kreisel, H. (1981) Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels
4
A famous example of such work from an Augsburg 1, Von den Anfängen bis zum Hochbarock. München:
master in a foreign country are the doors in the Es- Beck.
corial palace made for Philipp II probably by Bar-
tolomäus Weishaupt, in the year 1567. Windisch- Michaelsen, H. Unger, A. and Fischer, C. H. (1992)
Graetz 1983, Bd. 2, p. 129. Blaugrüne Färbung an Intarsienhölzern des 16. bis
18. Jahrhunderts. Wie kann sie identifiziert werden?
5
Kreisel (1981) p. 83. Indeed this technique does In: Restauro, 1/ 92, p 17– 25.
exist in the late 16th and early 17th century. In this
case, the work is two coloured and both the ground Windisch-Graetz, F. (1983) Möbel Europas 2, Re-
veneer and the inlayed motifs were sawn out to- naissance und Manierismus, vom 15. Jahrhundert bis
gether with the fretsaw, analogical to the Boulle- in die erste Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts. München:
technique. Klinkhardt & Biermann.

6
There is the big cabinet of Roentgen in the Kunst-
gewerbemuseum of Berlin, which was heavily dam-
aged during the War, where the open-laid marque-
try-substrate shows similar traces of the shoulder
knife. Becker (1971) pp. 22 - 39.

7
Michaelsen, Unger & Fischer (1992) pp. 17- 22.

References
Becker, M. (1971) “Restaurierung des Großen Ber-
liner Kabinettschrankes von David Roentgen. Holz-
restaurierung”, In: Neue Museumskunde, Jg.14,
1/1971, pp. 22-39.
Christine Cornet
Cornet, C. (1999) “Zur Konstruktion und Verarbei- Art Historian
tung der Roentgenmöbel”, In: Stratmann-Döhler, R.
(ed.) Mechanische Wunder, Edles Holz: Roentgen- Staatlich anerkannte Fachakademie zur
möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts in Baden und Württem- Ausbildung von Restauratoren für Möbel und
berg. Karlsruhe: INFO-Verlag. Holzobjekte des Goering Instituts e.V.
Munich, Germany
Flade, H. (1986) Intarsia. Europäische Einlegekunst
aus sechs Jahrhunderten. Dresden: VEB Verlag der
Kunst Dresden and C. H. Beck, München. Tel. +49 (0) 89 38 39 50-0
E-mail: [email protected]

48
 The ‘Amalia Cabinet’

The ‘Amalia Cabinet’

- A Masterpiece of 17th Century Dutch Cabinetmaking

Angie Barth

Introduction
An exceptional 17th-century cabinet-on-stand was Until recently, Wilhelm de Rots (born c. 1616)
acquired by the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam at the end was not known as a cabinetmaker: he was only
of 2005.1 It is an early example of furniture decorated mentioned as the superintendent of Princes Amalia
with marquetry of exotic and expensive materials: van Solms’ residences. Amalia van Solms (1602-
ivory and tortoiseshell. The so-called Amalia cabinet 1675) was the spouse of Prince Frederik Hendrik
is significant for artistic and historical reasons as van Oranje-Nassau, the political leader of the
it sets a milestone in the history of Dutch cabinet Netherlands from 1625 until 1647. Amalia and
making. Frederik Hendrik were inspired by the splendour
and magnificence of other European royal houses.
They built several richly decorated palaces, turned
Historical aspects The Hague into a fashionable royal capital, collected
When the cabinet entered the collection of the mu- treasures and introduced a genuine court etiquette.
seum, the cabinetmaker as well as the client were The cabinet of the Rijksmuseum is a good example
unknown, and it was thought to be a luxurious Pa- of their penchant for valuable and precious objects.
risian, 17th-century French piece of furniture. This At present, the Amalia cabinet is the oldest known
opinion had to be revised! piece of furniture commissioned by a member of the
Research carried out by Prof. Dr. Reinier Baarsen, House of Oranje-Nassau, ancestors of the present
senior furniture curator at the Rijksmuseum, re- Dutch Royal Family.3
vealed that the cabinet was produced in the early
1650’s in The Hague and that it was made by Wil-
helm de Rots for Princess Amalia van Solms.2 A con-
temporary poem by Jan Zoet is remarkable because
it is entirely devoted to this special cabinet (Figure
1). This written source provides extremely interest-
ing historical and iconographical information.

49
Angie Barth

Figure 1 The poem by Jan Zoet is a valuable source of information, mentioning the client, the cabinetmaker
and the iconography of the cabinet.

Iconography of the marquetry

Formal description decoration
The cabinet-on-stand is composed of a square upper The general appearance of the marquetry decoration
chest, luxuriously decorated with highly contrasting can be placed in a historical perspective. Therefore,
marquetry of ivory and tortoiseshell. The chest is let us take a few steps back in history, to 15th-
placed on a stand made of five spiral-turned legs century Italy. Two distinct, totally different styles
joined to a rectangular-shaped stretcher which is of marquetry were developed at the same time
veneered with rosewood, ebony and ivory (Figure 2 in the Quattrocento: one based on the knowledge
and 3).4 of architectural rules, geometry, proportions and
The two doors of the upper part are entirely covered perspective, the other composed of ramifications
with marquetry and conceal a richly decorated interwoven with imaginary figures and patterns
interior. Unlike other 17th-century cabinets, there is borrowed from the animal and vegetal kingdom.
no cavity in the centre of the cabinet. The interior Both distinct styles are clearly visible on the Amalia
of the Amalia cabinet is a totally flat surface where cabinet, which is quite uncommon: the linear,
the illusion of depth is entirely created by the design architectural trompe l’oeil perspective covering the
of the marquetry. Only a close inspection reveals the drawer fronts contrasts highly with the arabesques
distribution of ten actual drawers around a central and scrollwork elsewhere on the cabinet.
door (Figure 4). It is clear that the marquetry was designed for this
cabinet and could not have been used on another
piece of furniture initially as many iconographical
items, such as oranges, refer to the House of Oranje.
The monogram that can be seen inside, in the centre
of the cabinet – HAVO – stands for Hendrik and
Amalia Van Oranje (Figure 4).5 It is surrounded by
decorative ropes with tassels, the so called cordon
des veuves, an attribute for a widow.

50
 The ‘Amalia Cabinet’

Figure 2 General view of the cabinet, the doors closed.

This is an indication that the cabinet was built It was introduced in the 1610’s in Paris, mainly in
for Amalia van Solms after the death of Frederik the gallery of the Louvre, and soon became famous
Hendrik in 1647. This dating is confirmed by in northern Europe. Only in the mid 17th-century
dendrochronology.6 was the peapod superseded by the fashion of natural
The marquetry covering the doors may seem flowers in marquetry decoration.8 This decorative
purely decorative at a first glance, however, Jan element places the Amalia cabinet in a period of
Zoet’s poem explains clearly that the iconography of transition between different types of marquetry
the decoration has a very political meaning: it is a ornamentation.
message of hope in an extremely difficult period of
Dutch history (Figure 5a & b).7
The poem mentions that the crown of thorns Construction and materials used on
surrounding the heart of the nation is already
broken and that the young sprout (baby William III) the cabinet
will become a vigorous tree. This is illustrated in The construction of the whole cabinet is made of
the centre of the marquetry on the doors. The poem solid oak. Both sides of the chest are joined with
says that the enemies of the nation will destroy each dovetails to the top and the bottom of the cabinet.
other. In the marquetry, they are represented as The dovetails are visible in raking light. The shelves
a snake and a dragon facing each other (Figure 6). inside the cabinet are housed in dovetailed grooves.
The poem compares the leaders of the country with The back panel is originally nailed into a rebate at
biblical pelicans: they feed their descendants with the back of the chest.
their own body (Figure 7). As the doors are entirely covered with marquetry,
Another interesting decorative item is the peapod X-radiographs were made in order to achieve a better
or cosse de poix (Figure 8). understanding of the construction (Figure 9).9

51
Angie Barth

Figure 3 General view of the cabinet, the doors opened.

Figure 4 Marquetry creates a three-dimensional illusion inside the cabinet.

52
 The ‘Amalia Cabinet’

Figure 5a-b The marquetry on the outside (a) and the inside (b) of the left door.

Each door is constructed as a framework in which On the inside of the cabinet, some of the ivory is
four solid panels are fitted between stretchers. This stained green, coloured with a copper salt, and some
construction worked extremely well as there are is stained blue with indigo. The blue ivory has a mar-
only a few old shrinkage cracks. The X-radiographs bled appearance because the colour has not pene-
are quite beautiful in themselves, as one can see trated evenly into the material. This gives an almost
the superposition of the ivory and the tortoiseshell mineral look to the ivory.
decoration (on both sides of the doors) on the same The cabinetmaker used the ivory skilfully. The
image. background of Amalia’s monogram – an eye-catcher
Regarding the materials used on the cabinet, we in the interior of the cabinet – seems to have been
have mentioned several times the presence of ivory made of one huge piece of ivory. In fact, it is made
and tortoiseshell in the marquetry. Those materials of several pieces, but Wilhelm de Rots ingeniously
have always been extremely precious, and as a con- used the joints of the marquetry to disguise the
sequence, nowadays, both ivory and tortoiseshell joints of the ivory.
are protected in Annex I by the Convention on Inter- The tortoiseshell used on the cabinet has been
national Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna identified visually as Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmo-
and Flora (CITES).10 chelys imbricata). In 17th-century archival docu-
Ivory was transported to the Netherlands by ships ments, it is said to have been shipped from the Car-
of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), established ibbean region by the Dutch West India Company
in 1602. As the ships of the VOC sailed to Africa as (WIC) in ‘buckets’.12 It is a very precious and exotic
well as Asia, we would like to know the provenance material that can be polished to a high gloss.
of the ivory used on the cabinet. Therefore, we The back of the tortoiseshell is covered with red
intend to use micro-Raman spectroscopy, a non- pigment and paper. This gives the translucent shell a
destructive method.11 This might inform us if the red appearance. Only few parts, like the semicircular
ivory marquetry is made of Elephas maximus (Asian arches on the interior have no pigment at all beneath
elephant) or Loxodonta africana (African elephant). the tortoiseshell. Those arches look yellow, which is
Furthermore, micro-Raman spectroscopy will also the colour of the underlying glue. The cabinetmaker
enable us to compare the ivory on the main body used the tortoiseshell very tastefully for creating his
with the one used on the stand of the cabinet. architectonic perspective, taking advantage of the
different patterns of the material.

53
Angie Barth

Figure 6 Detail of the marquetry on a door. A Figure 7 Detail of the marquetry on a door. Figure 8 Detail of the marquetry on
dragon faces a snake, symbolizing the enemies The leaders of the nation are depicted as a door. The peapod is omnipres-
of the Dutch Republic. biblical pelicans. ent on the cabinet.

As an example, the tortoiseshell used to create the after it was built, but before the back panel was
pillars in the foreground has more spots and is dark- placed in position. This fabric has probably been
er than the tortoiseshell used for the pillars on the produced and stained in Leiden, a city near The
background. The corners of all pillars are made with Hague, famous in the 17th-century for its red and
very dark tortoiseshell, as if those corners were seen black woollen cloths. The red fabric inside the cabi-
in the shadow (Figure 4). It is also worth mentioning net has never been washed or exposed to ultraviolet
that the small key holes on the drawers have been radiation and as a result it has kept a beautiful and
skilfully integrated in the marquetry, in such man- remarkably bright colour.
ner that they are almost invisible. Regarding the metallic elements present on the
Wilhelm de Rots used a few pieces of ebony to tone cabinet (including locks, hinges, nails, screws),
the darkest parts of his perspective. most of them are original, except for a few modern
Other luxury materials are to be found in the cabi- screws. The craftsmanship is impressive, even the
net, sometimes hidden from sight. The ten drawers locks have been very precisely ‘tailed’ into the solid
in the cabinet are noteworthy in this regard. The oak of the door (Figure 11).
fronts are decorated with marquetry, and all other
parts are covered with an oriental lacquer imitation,
red inside the drawer and black outside (Figure 10). Marquetry techniques
The cabinetmaker created this interpretation with Several marquetry techniques have been used to
paper. After constructing the drawers, he covered create Amalia’s cabinet.
them with a layer of paper which was first painted Wilhelm de Rots mainly cut the ivory and the
red, then black and finally varnished. tortoiseshell as a sandwich (later known as Boulle
In order to protect the drawer’s fragile lacquer imi- technique), which is a very economical method for
tation, shelves and partitions are upholstered with working with precious materials as there is almost
a red wool twill fabric, which is not visible when no waste. Thanks to the pattern of the tortoiseshell
the drawers are closed. It was glued into the cabinet and the lines of the saw blade, it is possible to deter-

54
 The ‘Amalia Cabinet’

Figure 9 Detail of an X-radiographs showing the structure of Figure 10 Detail of the interior, upholstered with red fabric in order to
the door. This image is beautiful in itself, as both partye and protect the lacquer imitation of the drawer. Notice the bright red color
contrepartye are visible on both sides of the panel. of the fabric.

mine which parts have been cut together at the same well as ebony). As a consequence, the pattern of the
time (Figure 12a & b). The marquetry has been cut pavement is symmetrical but the colours are not.
with a very thin saw blade. When we are facing the cabinet, the pavement on
The decoration on both sides of each door has been the right appears dark and has a predominance of
cut together: the outside is the so called première green ivory and ebony, while the pavement on the
partie (ivory pattern on a tortoiseshell background) left is mainly composed of white and green ivory
while the inside is the contrepartie (tortoiseshell (Figure 4).
pattern on a ivory background) (Figure 5a & b). In There are three distinct marquetry designs used
the same way, the decoration on the sides of the on the cabinet: the composition on both sides of the
chest are the première partie (Figure 13) and those doors, that of the sides and the top of the cabinet, and
on the top of the cabinet are the contrepartie (Figure finally the geometrical perspective of the interior.
14). Little engraving can be seen on the outside of
The decorative lines below and above the mar- the cabinet. On the inside, some ivory elements
quetry of both sides of the chest and of the doors are deeply engraved, such as the capitals and
are interesting. These lines are not present next to basement of the columns, the architrave as well as
the marquetry on top of the cabinet. They may have parts of the balustrade. The engraving gives depth
been added in order to extend the height of the chest to those elements. No shading was employed in the
and to improve the proportions of the cabinet. marquetry.
Beside the so-called Boulle technique, the cabinet-
maker also cut marquetry piece by piece. He mainly
used this technique on the drawer fronts of the in-
terior. Nevertheless, some parts of the interior have
also been cut as a sandwich, like the green and white
pavement. Wilhelm the Rots used three layers of ve-
neer to cut this pavement (white and green ivory as

55
Angie Barth

Figure 11 The shape of the lock has been ‘tailed in’ very exactly in the solid oak of the door.

Conservation treatment
When the Amalia cabinet came into our workshop, it Previous restorations, mostly described by Prof.
was in a relatively good condition, except for a very Michaelsen in his conservation report, were visible,
large amount of lifting ivory and tortoiseshell. There some of them carried out with materials different
were only few lacunas and fortunately no traces of from the original (horn instead of tortoiseshell, bone
woodworm. It was restored in 1984 in Germany by instead of ivory) as the original materials were not
Mr. Hans Michaelsen (now Professor at the Fach- available. All those previous restorations were pre-
hochschule in Potsdam) who kindly gave us a copy served as they were stable. Some yellowed fillings or
of the conservation report he made in the 80’s. replacements were retouched when the colour did
The structure of the cabinet was sound. The stand not match (for instance, some pieces of blue ivory or
was not very stable, therefore it was taken apart the darkened old fillings in the cracks of the doors).
and glued again. The back panel of the cabinet could Some lacunas in the marquetry were filled with the
not shrink freely because of the original nailed con- appropriate material.
struction, and therefore had developed some cracks. Loose paper on several corners of the drawers was
Those cracks were glued after removing the back consolidated. The dust on the fabric was removed
panel. The few cracks present in the construction carefully by suction.
of the doors were stable and did not need any inter- To conclude the conservation treatment, the sur-
vention. face dirt was removed with saliva and the cabinet
The main conservation work consisted of consoli- protected with a very thin layer of microcrystalline
dating the (partly) loose marquetry elements. Af- wax, in order to obtain an even, tempered gloss on
ter removing the doors and the back panel13, it was the whole surface.
much easier to apply the clamps for gluing the mar-
quetry, especially on the top and sides of the cabinet.
Sometimes the tortoiseshell was loose due to the
delamination of the interface between tortoiseshell
and pigment, in other areas the paper itself delami-
nated (Figure 15a & b).

56
 The ‘Amalia Cabinet’

Figure 12a-b The pattern of the tortoiseshell and the saw lines make it possible to determine which parts have been cut at
the same time.

Figure 15a-b Loose tortoiseshell can be a consequence of delamination between the material and the red pigment (a) or
delaminating paper (b).

57
Angie Barth

Figure 13 The marquetry on the right side of the cabinet. Figure 14 The top of the cabinet is the
contrepartye of the sides (cf. figure 13).

Conclusion Notes
The Amalia cabinet is a very important acquisition 1
Inv. BK-2005-19. Dimensions: 145 x 111,5 x 44 cm.
for the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, representing one The Rembrandt Association, the K.F. Hein Trust, the
of the highlights of Dutch furniture production made M.A.O.C. Gravin van Bylandt Foundation and the Dr
for a Princess of the House of Oranje. Historical re- Hendrik Muller’s Vaderlandsch Trust enabled the
search brought to light a previously little known Rijksmuseum to acquire the cabinet.
furniture production centre in The Hague, where
skilled craftsmen used elaborate techniques and 2
Baarsen, R. (2007) Furniture in Holland’s Golden
precious materials. In the future, this will certainly Age. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, pp. 110-123.
enable art historians to ascribe more furniture to Baarsen, R. (2006) ‘Kabinet’, In: Bulletin Vereniging
that production centre.14 Rembrandt, 16, pp. 20-23.
The conservation treatment of the Amalia cabinet (reproduced on: http://www.verenigingrembrandt.
was carried out during the period January - March nl/image.phtml?Type=AanwinstenPDF&Id=173 )
2006. The beauty of the cabinet and the large variety Baarsen, R. (2007) ‘Een cabinet voor Amalia van
of materials made it a particularly interesting pro- Solms: Europese meubelkunst in Den Haag’, In: Leids
ject. kunsthistorisch jaarboek, nr. 14, pp. 63-90.
The cabinet is now on display in the Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam.

58
 The ‘Amalia Cabinet’

3
The ‘Stadtholders’ (governors) in the Dutch Gold- 9
X-radiographs were taken at 40kV, 4mA, for 55 sec
en Age were the forefathers of our present Royal using Agfa film.
Family. Nowadays, Princes and Princesses are still
named after their ancestors. The eldest daughter of 10
For more information, see http://www.cites.org/
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Amalia, is
named after her famous ancestor Amalia van Solms. 11
Micro-Raman spectroscopy, a non-destructive
analysis method, is based upon the illumination of
4
Initially, we had some doubts about the authen- a sample with monochromatic light. A spectrometer
ticity of the cabinet’s stand. As we were thinking is used to examine the light scattered by the sample
that the cabinet was a French piece of furniture, it after reflection. A laser is used as the source of the
was hard to understand how the stand could match photons that lose or gain energy when they interact
with the French aesthetic. Now that we know that with the molecules in a sample. This generates a fre-
the cabinet is made in the Netherlands, the stand quency shift in the scattered photons, correspond-
has become much more plausible. Dendrochronol- ing to the energy difference between the incident
ogy carried out by Stichting RING from Amersfoort and the scattered photon (Raman shift). Different
(http://www.archis.nl/RINGnieuw/) did not enable types of ivory have different vibration modes of col-
us to date the oak used for constructing the stand lagen and therefore characteristic Raman spectra.
(record 2007026).
12
Amsterdam Town archive, not. arch. 13438/akte
5
The same monogram is painted four times on the 182, nots. Willem Decker. Amsterdam Town archive,
ceiling of the Oranjezaal in Huis ten Bosch, near The not. arch. 13053/akte 53, nots. Jan van Vollenhoven.
Hague. Amalia devoted the whole decoration of this
room to the memory of her husband Frederik Hen- 13
Fish glue (HMB, 8 rue de Prague, 75011 Paris) has
drik. She is represented as a widow in the centre of been used for gluing the cracks as well as the mar-
the painted ceiling. quetry.

6
Dendrochronology was carried out by Stichting 14
A small box (26,5 x 56 x 37 cm), from the collec-
RING on the back oak panel of the cabinet (record tion of museum Schloss Fasanerie in Germany has
2006032). It was possible to date the panel us- great similarities in the use of materials, techniques
ing macro-photographs of end grain wood: the oak and iconography. This object has undoubtedly been
tree was felled before 1644 (with a probability of made by the same cabinetmaker for Amalia van
99,99%). Solms. See Baarsen, R. (2006) op. cit. p. 21.
As the cabinet has few shrinkage cracks, we may
suppose that the cabinetmaker used wood that had
dried for several years.

7
In the early 1650’s begins a period without a ma-
ture governor, the so called ‘stadhouderloze peri-
ode’. Frederik Hendrik, Amalia’s husband, died in
1647 and Willam II, her son, died in 1650. Amalia’s
grandson, Willem III was born 8 days after his father
William II died from smallpox. Thus William III be-
came the Sovereign Prince of Oranje at the moment
of his birth.

8
Führing, P. and Bambenet-Privat, M. (2002) ‘Le Angie Barth
style cosse de poix. L’orfèvrerie et la gravure à Par-
Furniture Conservator
is sous Louis XIII’, In: Gazette des beaux-arts, tome
CXXXIX, january 2002, pp. 1-224.
E-mail: [email protected]

59
Roswitha Schwarz and Stefan Demeter

Marquetry made of mixed Materials

– The Conservation Project ’Furniture in Boulle-technique’ at the
Bavarian National Museum, Munich

Roswitha Schwarz
Stefan Demeter

Summary
The Bavarian National Museum in Munich (BNM) The objects were made in Munich, Künzelsau near
owns a collection of furniture in Boulle technique Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Antwerp
which is subject of a conservation project. In this and Paris. The object group includes three couples
project manufacturing processes of objects of dif- worked in première/ contrepartie technique. Some
ferent provenances are compared and former con- of the objects of highest quality are in demand of
servation treatments performed on the objects are conservation treatment, others are in a stable condi-
evaluated and compared with regard to long-term tion, but have never been closely examined before. A
effects. Finally, conservation treatment plans for ob- third group was restored in the 1970s and has been
jects in a bad condition are developed based on the put on display ever since. These pieces will be exam-
findings. ined with regard to long-term effects of former con-
servation treatments. Others are in desperate need
for conservation and shall be displayed in the BNM
Introduction from 2011 onwards.
The Bavarian National Museum (BNM) owns a Preparing the conservation treatment of the ob-
collection of pieces of furniture, which are sump- jects in bad condition an interdisciplinary project
tuously decorated with marquetry made of tor- concerning the technological analysis of pieces was
toiseshell, horn and non-ferrous metals (brass, started under the following aspects: manufacturing
tin, copper). For some of the objects ivory, moth- techniques, conservation concepts from the 1970s
er-of-pearl and bone were used too. The collec- in the BNM and their evaluation, conservation treat-
tion ranges from the late seventeenth to the late ment plans and performance. A catalogue of meth-
nineteenth century. Most of the pieces were made ods of analysis will help to find new information and
for the Bavarian court and came to the museum compare the results from objects of different prov-
soon after it was founded in 1855, others were enance, finally leading to conservation treatment
acquired later in order to extend the collection. plans for those pieces, which are severely damaged.

60
 Marquetry Made of mixed Materials

Figure 1 Medicine chest by Johann Daniel Sommer, 1692 (BNM 78/390.1-360).

This paper presents the first results of five of the ob- The earliest piece we know of Johann Daniel Som-
jects included in the project: a medicine chest by Jo- mer is a table signed and dated 1666.2
hann Daniel Sommer (1692), two double secretaries The BNM´s medicine chest was commissioned by
(1704-15) and two bureaux mazarins (c.1720) by Carl August Markgraf zu Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Johann Puchwiser (Munich) and a bureau mazarin (1663-1731) and was acquired by the museum in
(before1715) made in Paris. 1978. The small cabinet (33,8cm high, 38,8cm wide,
31,8cm deep) has two front doors and a lid (Figure
1). Inside there is a tray carrying many different
vessels for ointments, essences and dried medical
A medicine chest by Johann Daniel drugs. Three drawers underneath are filled with a
Sommer (1692) number of medical instruments and more vessels.
Johann Daniel Sommer was born in Künzelsau in The outer surfaces and the inner sides of the doors
1643. He is considered one of the most important are richly decorated with floral ornaments domi-
German cabinet makers in the second half of the nated by tulips and spiral-shaped tendrils, which
17th century. Because of his ornamental style it can are typical of Sommer. Animals and phantastic fig-
be assumed that Sommer was trained in France and ures grow out of the colourful floral formations
brought the technique back to Germany in absolute (Figure 2). Iconographically the marquetry refers
perfection. On the other hand he also could have to the chest’s function by showing snakes on the lid,
been trained in Augsburg, where at that time mar- quoting the aesculapius rod. Markgraf Carl August
quetry made of mixed materials was in fashion and is represented by a large coat of arms inside the lid
produced on the highest technical level.1 In this case (Figure 3).
Sommer would have learned typical French stylistic
elements from internationally widespread orna-
ment sheets.

61
Roswitha Schwarz and Stefan Demeter

Figure 2 Medicine chest, detail of marquetry on a drawer front.

Marquetry technique
As the surface of the medicine chest is intact, no little holes in the tortoiseshell. This can easily be seen
samples could be taken. The examination of the mar- in areas were stems and/or tendrils come together.
quetry via microcope showed details concerning The cut goes down to the underlying red paper.4 The
Sommer’s manufacturing technique. The colourful paper was painted according to the contours of the
marquetry is made of tortoiseshell, engraved ivory, horn pieces. Both elements were glued together and
engraved tin , and translucent horn covering minia- finally into the intended spaces in the tortoiseshell
tures painted on paper. The very tight sawlines are background as last step in the composition of the
remarkable. The ivory elements were used as accen- marquetry. No paper fibres can be detected as the
tuating elements of the marquetry in a very linear paper was obviously coated with a white ground,
way, forming frames around the drawer fronts and which can be seen in small areas along the leaf edg-
on the outer surfaces of the chest. The tortoiseshell es. On top of the small paintings a layer of translu-
is glued to a red ground, obviously in the usual way cent glue can be seen, which shows a fine craquelée
made of paper painted red. It forms the background net and tiny black inclusions, probably fine dirt.
for the lively floral ornamentation. The pigment
used for the red paint was identified as a mixture of
vermillion and lead red (see below).
The tin leaves and blossoms originally were en-
graved, the lines being filled with a black engrav-
ing paste. The thin flower stems and the even more
delicate fine tendrils consist of wires of different di-
ameters, which were pressed into sawlines of differ-
ent width (c. 0,4mm-1mm). In few areas they were
even worked into horn pieces. Dots at the end of fine
tendrils were made by small pieces of tin wire with
the diameter of c. 2mm, which were inserted into

62
 Marquetry Made of mixed Materials

Figure 3 Medicine chest, inner side of lid, coat of arms.

Non-destructive analysis of colorants

via UV-VIS–absorption spectrometry Former restoration
As the marquetry was stable and complete, no sam- Before acquisition in 1978 the chest was restored.
ples for analysis could be taken. For this reason a Though this treatment was not documented we can
non-destructive method of analysis was chosen – tell from the deep scratching marks on the surface
the UV-VIS-spectrometry.5 The surface to be exam- that after gluing in place loose parts, the marquetry
ined is briefly illuminated with white light. Accord- was sanded down heavily. This treatment destroyed
ing to the chemical characteristics of the colorant a large parts of the original engraving on tin and ivory
part of the light is absorbed, the rest reflected, thus elements, which for better contrast had originally
producing an individual spectrum. This spectrum is been filled with black paste. The engravings on the
treated mathematically and then compared to data ivory pieces were reconstructed clumsily by means
libraries with reference material. The method can be of a fine drawing ink pen. There were also missing
applied through the horn layers and through the yel- parts of blossoms which were filled with a wax-like
lowish parts of the tortoiseshell, giving interesting putty. Another very small missing tin leaf on the lid
information on the range of colorants used by Som- was replaced by exotic dark wood veneer. A glossy
mer. Seven colorants could be identified: Vermillion rather thin coating of slightly uneven texture was
and red ochre were used for the red underneath the applied to the marquetry surfaces. On one of the
tortoiseshell veneer. Caput mortuum, an iron ox- drawer fronts a missing tortoiseshell element has
ide, was used for violet, light yellow ochre for yel- been replaced by a piece of horn lying on top of a
low, green earth for green and finally blue was made piece of printed paper (probably old German news-
from lapis lazuli pigment and probably indigo. For paper), which at an earlier stage carried an opaque
the golden paint, with which the fine accentuating layer of red paint. The red colour has almost faded
lines were drawn, we can assume that gold powder away and the replacement is thicker than the neigh-
was used as pigment. bouring pieces. So here no sanding was carried out,
the whole replacement might even be older than 30
years and was left untouched when the latest resto-
ration was carried out.

63
Roswitha Schwarz and Stefan Demeter

Two double secretaries by Johann

Puchwiser
Two double secretaries and two bureaux mazarins They each consist of 3 parts: at the bottom a big
by Johann Puchwiser are also part of the BNM`s con- chest of drawers without feet, which is constructive-
servation project on furniture with mixed material ly connected with a writing desk element with two
marquetry.6 Johann Puchwiser was born in 1680 fall fronts opening to the sides. Behind the lids there
and worked for the court of Elector Max II. Ema- are drawers with sumptuously decorated fronts in-
nuel (1662-1726) since 1701. He is considered the side. The second element is a tall carcass showing
founder of Boulle-technique in Munich while, as as mechanical refinement a revolving inner carcass
shown above, Augsburg was already established as containing five drawers. On the back of this carcass
a centre of mixed material marquetry in the second there is a big mirror which can be turned to the
quarter of the 17th century. Max II. Emanuel had a front, hereby locking the drawers. The last element
distinct preference for Boulle work furniture and is a clock case on top of the pieces.
owned several pieces from the Boulle workshop in The marquetry materials used for the double sec-
Paris as well as from Hendrik van Soest in Antwerp retaries are tortoiseshell, horn, brass, pewter, cop-
and other masters. In order to satisfy the Elector`s per and different wood veneers like snakewood and
demand for highly representative furniture, Puch- ebony. The ornamental style is influenced by Jean
wiser developed splendid, colourful pieces of furni- Bérain. The monogram of Max II. Emanuel appears
ture for his interiors. Johann Puchwiser died in Mu- several times as marquetry motive or as engrav-
nich in 1744. ing. The engravings show different states of quality.
The bureaux mazarins as well as the double sec- While most decorative ornaments are carried out in
retaries are worked in pemière partie/contrepartie, a rather simple manner, some of the more figurative
i.e. on one piece the pewter and brass ornament is elements show copperplate engraving quality. This
surrounded by tortoiseshell, on the second piece the proves a division of labour in the Puchwiser work-
ornament is made of tortoiseshell in a pewter and shop: more demanding metal parts have been en-
brass background. In smaller sections other materi- graved by more qualified craftsmen.
als like copper and horn are used too. We know that Taking a closer look at the manufacturing tech-
there used to be a third bureau mazarin belonging nique one of the main questions was how Puchwiser
to the BNM pair as a third variety of material com- produced the brilliant colours underneath the tor-
binations.7 The two double secretaries have a be- toiseshell and horn veneers. The pigments used
longing piece decorated with wood veneer, now in for the red paint under horn and the tortoiseshell
Schleißheim Castle near Munich.8 The double sec- veneers are vermillion and lead red.9 The brilliant
retary in première partie is in desperate need for blue colour (Figure 5) did not only have a decorative
conservation treatment (Figure 4), the contrepartie function. It was supposed to imitate natural lapis
piece has already undergone conservation treat- lazuli, which had been used for the most precious
ment in 1974 in BNM. pieces of furniture at the Bavarian court before, thus
The double secretaries are of almost monumental stressing the magnificence of the elector.10
size (c. 245cm high, c. 135cm wide, c. 95cm deep).

64
 Marquetry Made of mixed Materials

Figure 4 Double secretary by Johann Puchwiser, c. 1704-15, première partie (BNM R 3891), restored (photo 2011 by Bastian Krack).

65
Roswitha Schwarz and Stefan Demeter

Figure 5 Double secretary, première partie, unrestored, blue

paint with brass spots underneath horn veneer.

Figure 7 Double secretary, contrepartie (BNM R 3890), recon-

struction of background in 1974.
Figure 6 Double secretary, right fall front, partly highlighted by
brass foil under tortoiseshell.

This is proven by the fact that golden spots in the It was modified for different purposes, e.g. diluted
blue paint imitate pyrite inclusions in natural lapis with water for the consolidation of the marquetry
lazuli mineral. The analysis of the colorants showed and coloured with pigments in order to unobstru-
that Puchwiser used smalt and lapis lazuli pigment sively fill the sawlines between the marquetry ele-
for the blue paint and small pieces of brass foil for ments.
the golden spots.11 For aesthetic reasons some missing pieces of
The monogram of Max II. Emanuel dominates the brass and tortoiseshell were added, for example,
marquetry on the middle of the fall fronts. This area the missing background of the Victoria figure was
of heraldic importance is emphasized by two lions, reconstructed in order to restore its former contour
engraved in the highest quality, guarding the mono- (Figure 7). No forms were reinvented but the exist-
gram at the sides. The tortoiseshell areas neighbour- ing information was used to define the outline. Still,
ing the monogram are highlighted using brass sheets in many areas the wooden substructure was left
applied to paper, which were translucently painted to be seen and the old glue was removed. Here not
red and finally covered with the tortoiseshell veneer enough information on the shape of the marquetry
(Figure 6).12 was left. For the final evaluation of the long-term ef-
As mentioned above the contrepartie piece was fects of the conservation treatment in 1974 some
conserved in 1974 and has been put on display ever more examinations are necessary, e.g. concerning
since. The conservation goal at that time was stabi- the reversibility of the adhesive used. The last dec-
lizing the construction and the marquetry and clean- ades showed that the museum visitors are fully able
ing the surfaces. The adhesive used for construction to perceive the highly representative function of this
elements as well as marquetry was ‘Ponal’, a com- luxurious piece of furniture even with some smaller
mercial PVAC adhesive for wood.13 marquetry areas missing.

66
 Marquetry Made of mixed Materials

Figure 8 French bureau (BNM R 3893).

Two bureaux mazarins by Puchwiser

compared to one of French provenance
The two bureaux mazarin by Puchwiser are com- the legs and the middle part of the corpus, where the
pared to a French bureau which also belongs to the Puchwiser pieces show two drawers, whereas the
furniture collection of the Bavarian National Muse- French one has a door. The great correspondence
um. In former days it had been part of the collection in the arrangement of the marquetry on the top, the
of elector Maximilian II Emanuel. Max Emanuel lived front and the sides is obvious. We assume that the
between 1692 and 1701 in Brussels and from 1704 French piece came to Munich with the returning
till 1715 mostly in France. During one of these stays of the Elector to Munich in 1715, while Puchwiser
he must have bought the French bureau (Figure 8). made his pieces in Munich and signed one of them in
Neither the inventory lists nor the transport list are 1714. So it is possible that Puchwiser and the French
detailed enough to identify it. In the museum files it cabinet-maker worked on the basis of the same or-
is dated before 1715. The two other bureaux (Figure nament sheet, which was made in the style of Jean
9, 10) are made by Johann Puchwiser, one of them Bérain.14
is signed on the top: ‘Joh: Puechwiser 1714’. Each of
these bureaux is about 130cm wide, 60cm deep and
82cm high. Typical for a bureau mazarin is a vertical
three-part composition with eight legs, each group
of four legs being connected by a cross-shaped foot-
bridge. In the left and in the right part of the three-
part carcass there are three drawers; in the middle
part we have usually one drawer on the top and a
flap below. The obviously biggest difference in the
design of the three bureaux is the different design of

67
Roswitha Schwarz and Stefan Demeter

Figure 9 Bureau by J. Puchwiser (BNM R 3363). Figure 10 Bureau by J. Puchwiser (BNM R 3364).

Construction
Puchwiser and the French cabinetmaker used differ- bottoms of the French piece are also walnut, where-
ent principles in constructing the bureaux mazarins. as Puchwiser decorates the bottom with wood mar-
The board for the side and the bottom go through in quetry. Puchwiser’s wood joints are chosen well and
both cases, connected by dovetails. The French cab- crafted solidly. The wood joints prevent a distortion
inet-maker used one board under the top drawer to of the boards quite effectively, whereas those of the
hold the case together (dado), whereas Puchwiser French bureau are less carefully chosen. They were
constructed his pieces with middle sides (two-sided not able to prevent distortion as effectively as the
dovetailed dado). The French cabinet-maker made ones Puchwiser chose and they were less precisely
the wide board for the top by gluing several smaller crafted. Nevertheless, the carcasses of all three bu-
boards together, while Puchwiser used a framework reaux mazarins are in good condition.
construction. Another difference is the assembling The choice of wood also shows a difference in
of the legs. The French cabinet-maker connected craftsmanship. While the French cabinet-maker
the legs to the carcass by means of wooden dowels, used only coniferous woods of varying quality for
Puchwiser used an iron rod, which is screwed into the carcass, Puchwiser used coniferous woods with-
the carcass. Each leg consists of several elements, out knobs and in addition to that oak wood in order
which are kept in place by the iron rod. Underneath to strengthen edges and as veneer underneath the
each foot an iron plate is mounted to the rod and marquetry.15 So he was able to glue the marquetry
kept in position by means of iron nails. At the top onto the veneer on the working-bench. In a second
of the rod there is a thread so that the rod can be step the veneer with the marquetry could be glued
screwed into an iron nut, which is inserted into the onto the carcass. In this respect there are many par-
side of the carcass. Thus it is possible to attach or allels to the big double secretaries made by Puch-
remove the legs without using tools (this principle is wiser described above. These pieces are also worked
known from the Roentgen workshop in Neuwied – a very solidly. Parts which have to be very robust were
few decades later). made in hard woods. Underneath the marquetry
The drawers of all bureaux mazarins are made mostly hard wood can be found.
of walnut and connected by dovetails. The drawer

68
 Marquetry Made of mixed Materials

Analyses
Method French bureau Bureaux by Puchwiser

Wood /corpus Microscope Pine (abies alba) Spruce (picea abies)

(S. Demeter) Oak (quercus robur)

Wood /drawers Walnut Walnut

Marquetry Tortoiseshell Tortoiseshell

Horn

Pigments Polarization Cinnabar and lead Cinnabar and lead

microscopy red in mixture red in mixture, Smalt
(S. Demeter)

Brass AAS Cu 69,4% Cu 72,1%

(J. Riederer, Zn 27,6% Zn 23,5%
Rathgenlabor Berlin)

Pewter AAS Sn 72-74%

(J. Riederer, Pb 20%
Rathgenlabor, Berlin) Hg 5-7%

Filling mass of GC-MS (P. Dietemann, Charcoal Charcoal

engravings Bavarian Heritage Walnut oil Walnut oil
Administration, Munich)

Glue ELISA Cow skin glue Cow skin glue

(A. Heginbotham, Rabbit skin glue Rabbit skin glue
Getty Institute, Malibu)

Marquetry materials
The marquetry materials of the French bureau are other pieces of furniture in Boulle-technique it must
very similar to the pieces made in Munich. Concern- be considered that the brass alloy often contains a
ing the manufacturing technique of the marquetries similar high proportion of zinc. Obviously the cabi-
the two ebenists seem to have had the same know- netmakers used brass of a specific quality. The col-
ledge. our of this alloy is described as ‘high-yellow’.16 The
All three pieces are decorated with tortoiseshell of pewter contains a normal proportion of lead, about
similar quality. On the French bureau it is a bit dark- 20%, in order to make it harder. The high proportion
er, whereas Puchwiser uses tortoiseshell with only of mercury about 5-7% is remarkable but its func-
few dark spots. On all three pieces the tortoiseshell tion is not quite clear. It could influence the chemi-
covers a paper layer painted red (cinnabar and lead cal properties of the alloy. In historical sources no
red in mixture). recipe or description could be found. In Histoire de
In addition, Puchwiser uses horn veneer for small l’Académie Royale des Sciences (1740) there is a re-
areas with a blue paint layer on paper underneath. port about ‘malouin’, which is described as ‘whiter,
For the two bureaux mazarins smalt was used as harder, more sonorous’.17 This hints at a modified
blue pigment, for the two double secretaries a mix- technical characteristic. The British philosopher and
ture of smalt and lapis lazuli. The blue on the bu- natural scientist Robert Boyle mentioned a modi-
reaux mazarins shows little golden spots like the fied optical effect.18 A practical experiment with a
blue on the double secretaries does as shown above detached original tin ornament gave some more in-
(Figure 5). So here just like on the double secretaries formation. The ornament was polished on the back
the imitation of natural lapis lazuli is intended, giv- side. Within a few minutes a very plane and glossy
ing the bureaux mazarins an even more representa- surface could be created, looking like polished silver
tive appearance. with a mirror-like effect. Even after 12 months this
The brass analysis of all three bureaux mazarin brilliance was still visible. From this we can con-
pieces showed a relatively high proportion of zinc. If clude that the mercury may influence the oxidation
that alloy component was created by calamine or by processes of the surface.
metallic zinc could not yet be proved. Compared to

69
Roswitha Schwarz and Stefan Demeter

Figure 11 Ornemens inuentez par Jean Bérain, about 1709 (Staatl. Graphische Sammlung
München, Inv.Nr. IB 18/1 Ber 12/1), p.4.

Figure 12 Central scene of the French bureau (BNM R 3893).

70
 Marquetry Made of mixed Materials

Figure 13 Top of a bureau by J. Puchwiser (BNM R 3363). The ornaments of the French bureau are marked in Pho-
toshop and mounted on the top of a bureau by J. Puchwiser. The digital mounting shows that Puchwiser copied
the French model.

Marquetry design
On all three bureaux mazarins the ornaments are As shown above the marquetry designs of the three
engraved whereas the ground materials are not. The bureaux mazarins refer to the same ornament sheet
engravings are filled with a black pigmented mass. in the style of Jean Bérain. The assumption that they
As binding medium of all samples walnut-oil could could even refer to the same copperplate by Bérain
be identified. If walnut-oil for this kind of work was could not be proved, though. In the drafts and de-
usual or if the cabinet-makers used the same mate- signs of Bérain only the central motive of the mar-
rial by chance is not clear. As the three bureaux have quetry appears, which shows Bacchus in the wine
been part of the museum collection for about 150 yard (Figure 11, 12).20 So someone must have com-
years it is possible that the presence of walnut-oil is bined several scenes from different copperplates or
a result of maintenance work. sheets and must have put them together in the right
The glue used for the marquetry of the three pieces size. As the printed Bacchus is smaller than the mo-
consists of rabbit skin glue and cow glue. This identi- tive on the bureaux mazarins it had to be enlarged.
fication was made by means of a method called ELI- In addition to that, it was inverted. Not much is
SA (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay).19 This known on the transferring process of the design to
is a very specific microbiological method originally the marquetry materials.
used in medicine. The advantage of the method is
the very specific reaction on different collagens. The
results show that rabbit skin glue and cow glue were Digital comparison of designs
used and that there is no glue on the basis of sheep, If there was no common copperplate for the mar-
‘goat’ or sturgeon protein. If any other glue was used quetries of the three pieces there must have been
additionally could not be proved as so far no anti- another connection. In order to find out more about
bodies for all other kinds of glue are available. this point, digital photos of the objects were com-
In general J. Puchwiser and the French cabinet- pared. The photos were made with the same cam-
maker have the same knowledge in manufacturing era, in the same distance and angle. In a second step
furniture in Boulle-technique. The objects are made the contours of the marquetry of the French bureau
of very similar materials but there are individual dif- was marked in Photoshop. Afterwards the contour
ferences in how the work was carried out. lines could be mounted on the corresponding photo
of a bureau by Puchwiser.

71
Roswitha Schwarz and Stefan Demeter

Figure 14 Detail of the third bureau by Puchwiser. The yellow and magenta lines represent the contours of the
marquetry of the two bureau in the museum.

Figure 15 The coloured parts represent the smaller segments into which Puchwiser divided the whole design in
order to simplify sawing work.

72
 Marquetry Made of mixed Materials

Figure 16 Detail of the French bureau (BNM Figure 17 Detail of the bureau by Puchwiser Figure 18 Detail of the bureau by Puchwiser
R 3893). (BNM R 3363). (BNM R 3364).

Cutting technique
The comparisons of the contour lines with the In literature about Boulle-technique we normally
marquetry lead to the conclusion that Puchwiser read that it was usual to glue the different material
must have copied the French piece (Figure 13). layers one onto the other. Thus, it is assumed, it was
He copied the whole arrangement, the scenes, the possible to cut out ornaments and backgrounds in
bands, the flowers, the birds almost in a relation one operation – the so-called sandwich-technique.
1:1. But he also changed some scenes and figures On the other hand we know that it was not possible
and filled empty spaces with additional figures. to produce big brass plates. For big surfaces several
Using the described digital technique it could also brass pieces would have had to be joined together.
be proved that the two bureaux by Puchwiser were The same is true for the tortoiseshell. The joints usu-
manufactured in the so-called ‘sandwich-technique’. ally correspond with the contour of the marquetry
But as mentioned above Puchwiser used three mate- ornaments. But so far it is not explained how this
rials for his marquetry: tortoiseshell, brass and pew- procedure worked when it comes to marquetries of
ter. So it was possible to manufacture a third bureau big pieces of furniture: joining the brass together,
mazarin with the same pattern combining the mate- also the pewter and tortoiseshell, gluing them to-
rials differently (see note 7). From this third bureau gether and making them correspond with the pat-
mazarin by Puchwiser only some photos showing terns of the marquetries. And not to forget the size of
one side exist. Comparing the corresponding photos the fretsaws which also gives a limitation to the size
of the other two Puchwiser objects it can be shown of the sandwiches to be cut. So we assume that the
that all three of them must have been cut out in one big ornament sheets for big surfaces were divided
sawing process. into smaller parts along the outline of one material.
This could also be proved via digital comparison The smaller section could have been joined together
(Figure 14). If the third bureau mazarin could be when glued to the wood surface.
found, there would be two object groups by Puch- In order to prove this idea again digital photos
wiser each consisting of three corresponding pieces were compared to each other by marking corre-
(three bureau mazarins and three double secretar- sponding marquetry areas. Comparing the results it
ies, see note 8), which would be quite a singular can be shown that all sawlines within the same ma-
source of information on the Puchwiser workshop’s terial fit together (Figure 15).
manufacturing technique.

73
Roswitha Schwarz and Stefan Demeter

Notes
This shows that the surface was divided into smaller 1
Langer, B., Herzog von Württemberg, A., Ottomey-
parts, one part being a little smaller than the usu- er, H. and Hojer, G. (1996) Die Möbel der Residenz
al size of a plate of tortoiseshell. So we suggest the München 2, In: Die deutschen Möbel des 16. bis 18.
manufacturing steps for the BNM bureaux mazarin Jahrhunderts. München (u.a.): Prestel, pp.62-67:
as follows: treasure table with gold and silver sheets used for
the marquetry, Augsburg 1626; pp.82-89: two cabi-
– the marqueteur produced small “sandwiches” nets on stand, Augsburg around 1680/5 and many
of different materials, according to the maximum other examples in the Munich Residence.
size of the materials
2
Angelmaier, Ursula (2004). ”Der Kunstschreiner
– the outline of the plate was cut out according to a Johann Daniel Sommer”, In: Angelmeier, Ursula,
design segment Freyer, Ulli & Huber, Andrea. Der Kabinettschrank
des Würzburger Fürstbischofs Johann Gottfried von
– the marquetry of this smaller work unit was cut, Guttenberg von Johann Daniel Sommer. Künzelsau,
separated and combined (première partie, contre Swiridoff, pp.6-8.
partie etc.)
3
Two inventory notes refer to the table from 1666
– the small marquetry units were glued to the wood in the Hohenlohe Museum Schloß Neuenstein and a
surface or thick wood veneer game board in the Württembergisches Landesmuse-
um, Stuttgart. See Himmelheber, Georg (1966). ”Die
But these thoughts are only suggestion – only the Möbel des Johann Daniel Sommer”, In: Kellermann,
fact that bigger surfaces were divided into smaller Fritz (hg.). Die Künstlerfamilie Sommer. Sigmarin-
parts could be proved. gen, Thorbecke, p.124 and p.140, note 9.

The Bavarian National Museum owns with these 4

The analysis of the tin alloy has not yet been car-
three bureaux not only three important pieces of the ried out.
Bavarian court. As they are a French model and Mu-
nich copy they are a group of high interest not only 5
Piening, H. (in press) UV/VIS-absorption spec-
for conservators, but also for art historians (Figure trometry: a non-destructive method for dyestuff
16-18). identification. In: The 2nd Scandinavian Symposium
We hope the project on furniture in Boulle-tech- on Furniture Technology & Design: Marquetry past
nique will give us the opportunity to find new infor- and present, May 10-12, 2007, Vadstena, Sweden
mation and discuss new aspects with other furni-
ture conservation specialists. 6
The BNM received a grant from the Getty Founda-
tion, the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the
Eleonora-Schamberger-Stiftung to support the anal-
ysis and conservation of the four Puchwiser objects.
An exhibition and a conference took place in 2011.
For information on the exhibition catalogue and the
conference postprint please contact: restaurierung.
[email protected]

7
In 1981 the object was offered for sale by the
antique dealer Fischer-Böhler in Munich. As the
whereabouts of this bureau mazarin are unknown,
the BNM would be thankful for any information con-
cerning the destination of this object.

8
Hojer, G. (hg.) and Langer, B. (bearb.) (2000) Die
Möbel der Schlösser Nymphenburg und Schleißheim.
München (u.a.): Prestel, pp.277-278.

74
 Marquetry Made of mixed Materials

9
The colorants have been analysed via UV-VIS spec-
trometry (non-destructive) and polarisation micros-
copy. Thanks to Frauke Schott, Dipl.-Rest.(Univ.),
Munich, and Dr.Heinrich Piening, archaeometrical
laboratory of the Bavarian Castles Administration,
Munich.

10
See the magnificent table with pietra dura top
(c.1623-20) at the Munich residence, see note 1,
pp.68-72.

11
See note 9. The REM-EDX analysis showed an al-
loy made of Cu/Zn. Thanks to Dr.Christian Gruber,
Bavarian Heritage Administration, Munich.

12
Thanks to Dr. Christian Gruber, see note 11.

13
Ponal wood glue, produced by the Henkel com-
pany, Düsseldorf (Germany) is a very popular white
glue used for modern cabinet-making.

14
* 1640, † 1711, designer at the French court under
Louis XIV.

15
The oak veneer is about 4 - 5mm thick.

16
Schiessl, Ulrich (1998). Techniken der Fassmaler
in Barock und Rokoko. Stuttgart, Enke, p.22.

17
„… plus blanc, plus dur, plus sonore…“
Roswitha Schwarz
18
Segebade, C. (1993) Zerstörungsfreie Untersu-
Dipl. Rest. (FH) Senior Furniture Conservator
chungen von Boulle-Marketerie, In: Zeitschrift für
Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung, Nr. 1, 1993, p.
131. Bavarian National Museum
Munich, Germany
19
Thanks to Arlen Heginbotham at the Getty Muse-
um, Malibu. For further information: Heginbotham,
A., Millay, V. and Quick, M. (2004) The Use of Im- Tel. +49 (0) 89 21 12 42 51
munofluorescence Microscopy (IFM) and Enzyme- E-mail: [email protected]
linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as Comple- www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de
mentary Techniques for Protein Identification in
Artists’ Materials, In: The Journal of the American
Institute for Conservation, December 2004. Stefan Demeter
Diplom Restaurator Univ.
20
This was shown by Dr. Henriette Graf, art histo-
rian, Munich.
Private Conservator
Munich, Germany

E-mail: [email protected]

75
Heinrich Piening

UV/VIS-absorption Spectrometry
– A non-destructive Method for Dyestuff Identification

Heinrich Piening

Introduction What is new about this technique?

From historical treatises we know a lot about the A high performance diode-array spectrometer, nor-
colorants used for the dyeing of wood and the de- mally used as HPLC-Detector was used. The spec-
manding dyeing techniques. Conservators and art trometer has a resolution of 0.3 nm in the spectral
historians like to know about the individual dyestuff range 300 – 1100 nm. It is thus possible to get im-
used for a particular piece of marquetry. However, if portant spectral information from the UV and from
the surface is intact it is in most cases not possible the near infrared parts of the spectrum.
or desirable to take samples for dye analyses. There- A standard 45/0° geometry is used, applied with
fore analytical results of dyestuffs are very rare. optical fibres (fibre optics).
This paper deals with UV/VIS-absorption-spec- Interpretation is carried out using absorption
trometry in diffuse reflection, a non-destructive spectra known from infrared spectrometry. Absorp-
technique for analysis of pigments and dyestuffs. It tion spectra show the results of the interaction of
is possible to identify nearly 90 % of commonly used the electromagnetic wave with the material whereas
colorants. This technique is applicable to furniture, reflecting spectra only represent the colour you can
textiles, drawings and paintings and has been fur- see. Absorption spectra can be used with commer-
ther developed in order to get improved results.1 cial analytical software.
UV/VIS-spectrometry for colorimetry is used in
diffuse reflection to proof colours of print media.
Portable spectrophotometers are on the market, but Some typical questions
they only deliver colorimetric data. What is the effect of the light source on the spec-
Successful identification of dyestuffs by the use of trum?
colorimetric systems has been carried out by Robert
Fuchs and Doris Oltrogge2 of the University of Ap- How great is the effect of the surface roughness on
plied Science, Cologne and by Ruth Johnston-Feller3 the spectra?
from the Getty Conservation Institute.
What is the effect of the measurement angle?

76
 UV/VIS-absorption Spectrometry

Figure 1 Energy absorption and emission, Abs: absorption; IK: internal conversion; FL: fluorescence; Ph: phosphorescence.

What is the effect of binding media and varnishes? level S1 or S2. If the energy drops one step following
emission of the former absorbed energy, it is called
Every optical system must react to electromagnetic internal conversion. If the energy is lost in two or
waves, but how important are these effects? more steps the process is called fluorescence and
phosphorescence. Some of the input energy is ab-
Is it possible to identify mixtures of two or more sorbed without emission.
colorants?

Measuring equipment
Physical basics
The measuring equipment comprises a light source,
Additive mixing of red, blue and green results in
optical fibres, a measuring appliance, the spectrom-
white light. What you can see with your eyes is the
eter and a computer. The results are processed and
effect of absorption from certain colours from white
shown in different scales such as chromacity, ab-
light. The measured spectra are completely differ-
sorption spectrum or derivations of the spectrum.
ent.
Measurement geometry is 45/0°. The light spot nor-
mally has a diameter of 3 mm and a detection field
Interactions of 1.5 mm. It can be narrowed to less than 0.5 mm
(Figure 2).
The interactivities of electromagnetic energy dif-
fer in different wavelengths. Interesting for UV-VIS-
spectrometry is the region between 200 and 1100
nm.
Figure 1 shows in a simplified form what hap-
pens to an electron, when activated by a photon. The
electron rises from the base level S0 to an excited

77
Heinrich Piening

Figure 2 Measurement equipment comprising a light

source, optical fibres, a measurement geometry of
45/0°, the spectrometer and a computer. The results
are processed and shown in different scales.

Basic results Binding media

Halogen light and xenon light differ in their emission Different binding media seem to produce differ-
spectra. It is only possible to get useful results when ent colours. A pigment like smalt looks light blue
the correct energy is input. with gum arabic but nearly black when linseed oil
Xenon light has more energy is put in the UV-area is used. In spectrophotometry binding material and
of the spectrum, while halogen light has more emis- varnishes greatly influence the results, because the
sion in the near infrared. The spectrometer has its brightness is important for the colour calculation.
own dark spectrum to which has to be subtracted For absorption spectrometry the effect of the bind-
from the VIS-spectrum. ing media is very small. The binding material is nor-
With the exception of the intensity, the spectra of mally nearly transparent in visible light. A binding
different light sources are nearly identical. medium must have an absorption but in fact this ab-
sorption is only 1 to 5 % of the maximum absorption
of a colorant.
Roughness In this context, the interaction of electromagnetic
The roughness of the surface which is measured waves and dielectric systems such as transparent
does not change the position of the characteristic media is interesting. There are two refractive indi-
peak , but has some influence on the intensity level. ces, one for the electric and one for the magnetic
component. Depending on these indices, a medium
is transparent in different parts of the electromag-
Measurement angle netic spectrum.4 Every medium which is transpar-
ent in visible light must have a point of absorp-
For absorption spectrometry the measurement an-
tion (Figure 3). At this point the medium becomes
gle is not very important, if the variation form the
opaque and has an absorption peak in the spectrum.
standard 45/0° is no more than 15°.
This absorption point can be used to identify bind-
ing media and white pigments.

78
 UV/VIS-absorption Spectrometry

Figure 3 Points of absorption, depending on abnormal

dispersion. X-axis: frequency, Y-axis: refraction index.

White Colorants Evaluation of the spectra

White pigments seem to be white because they To identify a colorant by means of a spectrum it is
spread light over a wide range of the electromag- necessary to use analytical software. The software
netic spectrum. Optophysically white pigments are used was developed for analysis of IR-Spectra. The
nearly transparent. They have however absorption programme was adapted and expanded to the spec-
points and these can be used for identification. trum area of UV/VIS. All mathematical functions like
normalising, subtraction, first and second deriva-
tives can be used on UV/VIS spectra. An unknown
Mixtures spectrum can be assessed with sets of different
spectra libraries. In contrast to IR-spectrometry, UV/
Mixtures of colorants can be identified by their typi-
VIS-spectra-libraries are not commercially available.
cal maxima bands in the spectrum. The absorption
It is necessary to set up one’s own data library. In the
of light varies in proportion to the components of
data library of the Bavarian Palaces Administration
the mixture. Very rarely two different materials have
there are more than 3000 spectra of known mate-
their main maxima at the same position in the spec-
rials, pigments and dyestuffs. With different search
trum. A mixture of two components can normally be
strategies it is even possible to identify the compo-
analysed without a problem.
nents of a mixture. While the system delivers results
based on mathematical algorithms and displays a
hitlist, the analyst has to interpret the results.
Microscope
Using optical fibres it is possible to connect the spec-
trometer to a microscope in order to analyse pig-
ments in cross sections or in dyed textile fibres. The
spectra are comparable with those from the surface.

79
Heinrich Piening

Figure 4-5 Secretary, J.-F. Oeben, Paris c.1754/56. Residence

Museum Munich, Inv. Res.Mü. M 32.

Examples
Two pieces of furniture made by Jean-Francois Oe- table by Oeben (owned by the J.-P.-Getty Museum)
ben in Paris between 1754 and 1757 belong to the which is similar to that in the collection of the Ba-
Residence Museum in Munich. The dressing table varian Palaces Administration, high contents of iron
and the secretary are both in very good, almost orig- and sulphate were detected. It was not possible to
inal condition (Figure 4-7). identify the dyestuff 6.
Questions from colleagues from England and the In the dyeing of textiles iron is often used as a mor-
USA aroused our interest in these objects in our col- dant. Based on these analysis results it was tried to
lection. reproduce the colour on wood. In combination with
In her publication Die französischen Möbel der Res- the young fustic, a very interesting olive green dyed
idenz München Brigitte Langer 5 shows a picture of a veneer was obtained. Comparing the spectra from
leaf with floral marquetry, which is in very good con- the Oeben marquetry and the reproduction it can be
dition. The marquetry has been protected against shown that the spectra are similar with a correlation
light and shows the colours very brightly. Some piec- of more than 98%.
es of the marquetry show the natural colours of the It is possible to identify the now brown-looking
wood such as amaranth, Bahia rosewood or Bazilian colorants of the table-top marquetry and to identify
rosewood. As dyestuffs cochineal and young fustic, the dyes used. In fact it is very seldom that a dye-
the intensive yellow dyestuff of Rhus cotinus, better stuff is completely damaged or degenerated. The
known with the common name ‘Wig tree’, could be intensity and therefore the grade of absorption are
identified. characteristic. Sometimes one component of a mix-
An especial point of interest was the olive green of ture of dyestuffs is more sensitive to light and has
the leaves. Green as a natural dyestuff is very rare. degenerated more than another component. In this
In historical recipes the use of copper acetate was case, the visual impression of the original colour can
mentioned. Green is often a mixture of blue and yel- be misleading (Figure 8). But the experience made
low. In this case only a yellow component was found: with more than 400 examined art objects proved
Young fustic. There was no blue component. In the that UV/VIS-absorption spectrometry is a reliable
analysis of the green marquetry of another dressing method for non-destructive dyestuff identification.

80
 UV/VIS-absorption Spectrometry

Figure 6 Dressing table, J.-F. Oeben, Paris 1754/57. Residence

Museum Munich, Inv. Res.Mü. M 33.

Figure 7 Detail of the left side wing.

Figure 8 Table top of the dressing table with reproduces pieces of

dyed veneer.

81
Heinrich Piening

Notes
1
For the authors dissertation on the topic see http:// Piening, H. (1996) VIS-Spektroskopie. Eine neue,
www.hfbk-dresden.de/fileadmin/alle/downloads/ zerstörungsfreie Untersuchung eingefärbter Intar-
Restaurierung/MobileUV-VIS-Absorptionsspek- sien- und Marketeriehölzer an zwei Roentgenmö-
troskopie01.pdf beln der Münchner Residenz. In: Bayerische Ver-
waltung der staatlichen Schlösser, Gärten und Seen
2
Fuchs (1989) (Hrsg.). München: Bayerische Schlösser - bewahren
und erforschen.
3
Johnston-Feller (2001)

4
Zinth/Körner (1998) p. 23 Zinth, W. and Körner, H-J. (1998) Physik 3. München:
Oldenbourg.
5
Langer (1995) pp. 128 - 136

6
Heginbotham, A., Piening, H., v. Engelhardt, C.,
Grzywacz, C., Hughes, G., Smith, M. (2012)
Revelations of the Colors in the Marquetry of J.F. Figures/ Photo credits
Oeben. In: 2012 IIC Vienna Congress - The Decorative: Figure 1: © Gottwald, W. & Heinrich, K.H. 1998, p.28
Conservation and the Applied Arts, September 10-14,
2012, Vienna, Italy Figure 2: © Heinrich Piening

Figure 3: © Zinth, W. & Körner, H-J. 1998, p. 23

Figure 4; 5; 6; 7: © Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung

References Figure 8: © Heinrich Piening

Fuchs, R. (1989) S. v. “Farbempfinden”, “Farbmetrik”,
In: Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens, Bd. II.15. Stutt-
gart: Hiersemann, p. 550, p. 552.

Gottwald, W. and Heinrich, K. H. (1998) UV/VIS-

Spektroskopie für Anwender. Weilheim: Wiley-VCH.

Johnston-Feller, R. (2001) Color Science in the Ex-

amination of Museum Objects: Nondestructive Proce-
dures. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute.

Hecht, E. (2005) Optik. 4th ed. München: Olden-

bourg.
Heinrich Piening
Kortüm, G. (1969) Reflexionsspektroskopie. Berlin: Head of Department of Furniture and
Heidelberg, New York: Springer- Verlag. Wooden objects

Langer, B., Ottomeyer, H. and Hojer, G. (1995) Die

The Bavarian Department of State-owned
Möbel der Residenz München 1. In: Die französis-
chen Möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts. München, New
Palaces, Gardens and Lakes
York: Prestel. Munich, Germany

Nassau, K. (????) The Physics and Chemistry of Color. Tel. +49 (0) 89 17 90 84 50
2nd ed. New York, Chichester, Weilheim, Wiley. E-mail: [email protected]

82
 Marquetry Techniques in Paris during the second Half of the 18th Century

Marquetry Techniques in Paris during the second Half

of the 18th Century

Yannick Chastang

Although the Boulle technique was still being used, Latz (c.1691-1754), Jean-François Oeben (1721-63),
Parisian marqueteurs undertaking floral marquetry Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) and Jean-François
from the second quarter of the eighteenth century Leleu (1729-1807). Analysis and conservation work
onwards used a different technique, which had its on furniture by these makers have revealed distinc-
origins in intarsia. Literature on furniture manu- tive tool marks and outline drawings cut into the
facture techniques and, in particular, marquetry, is carcasse behind the marquetry. Further evidence of
rare during the seventeenth century and much of the use of this inlay technique is found in a paint-
the eighteenth. However, during the second half of ing representing an English marquetry workshop of
the eighteenth century many more books were writ- the late eighteenth century. Executed by the Swed-
ten and published on these subjects. The cabinet- ish painter Elias Martin during his travels in Eng-
maker’s craft was discussed in detail in Diderot’s land between 1768 and 1780, the painting depicts
Encyclopédie of 1751-80 and in 1772 the carpenter a craftsman cutting a piece of wood with a fret-saw
André-Jacob Roubo published a major work on the while another gouges out a cavity in a table top us-
subject, L’Art du Menuisier. Roubo’s book remains the ing a small inlay knife. Although it is unlikely that
best and most comprehensive book on eighteenth- all cabinet-makers in Paris in the eighteenth centu-
century cabinetmaking, even though some modern ry used this technique, it is safe to assume that the
cabinet-makers have criticised the fact that not all majority did so. Many were of foreign, particularly
the recipes he quotes can be successfully replicat- Flemish, origin. They lived and worked in the same
ed. Published during one of the richest periods of area of Paris around the Faubourg Saint Antoine
French marquetry, the techniques Roubo discusses and undertook their apprenticeships in the same
include many of the most important used by eight- workshops. Despite the fact that this technique is
eenth-century cabinetmakers and marqueteurs. He closer to intarsia than to Boulle marquetry, this late
provides a detailed discussion of what may be called eighteenth-century veneered decoration is also gen-
the advanced inlay technique. erally described as marquetry.
This technique was used to produce the marque-
try made by such master-craftsmen as Jean-Pierre

83
Yannick Chastang

Figure 1 Louis Tessier, Livre de Principes de Figure 2 Louis Tessier, Livre de Principes de Figure 3 Louis Tessier, Livre de Principes de
Fleurs, c.1755. Front page. Fleurs, c.1755. Engraving of lilies used by Fleurs, c.1755. Engraving of lilies used by
Riesener. Riesener.

Figure 4 Transferring the engraving onto wood Figure 5 Cutting the pattern using a piercing Figure 6 Cutting out a lily using the piercing saw.
veneer. saw and an 18th century donkey.

84
 Marquetry Techniques in Paris during the second Half of the 18th Century

Figure 7 Lily petals after cutting. Figure 8 L’art du Menuisier by Andre-Jacob Figure 9 Lily petals with shadow.
Roubo, c. 1772-1774. Sand shading.

Figure 10 Lilies glued on a backing paper. Figure 11 Preparation of the background veneer. Laying the background veneer on the solid wood
carcase of a piece of furniture, starting by gluing the outside frieze.

85
Yannick Chastang

On the back of the roll-top desk (bureau à cylindre) The top of the piece of furniture would then be sand-
made around 1770 for the comte d’Orsay (The Wal- ed, engraved if necessary, and a finish applied. De-
lace Collection, London F102; Hughes 191), Riesener spite its time-consuming nature, this technique was
has depicted a bunch of lilies taken directly from an preferred to the Boulle technique during the sec-
engraving by Louis Tessier. A modern reproduction ond half of the eighteenth century. Its advantages,
of this detail has been made, using the technique de- besides those of technique, lay in the complete lib-
scribed by Roubo, in order to illustrate the process. erty of interpretation of the marquetry composition
The marqueteur would have made a tracing of the which it afforded the marqueteur and the exactness
Tessier engraving, copying the detail of each individ- with which each marquetry element fitted into its
ual flower and leaf. Just as in the Boulle marquetry space. A flower or leaf could easily be added or left
technique this tracing would have been transferred out depending on the maker’s whim. Such freedom
or glued onto a piece of veneer, which would then allowed the resulting marquetry composition to be
have been prepared in the same way. Again as with adapted, often superbly so, to the piece of furniture
Boulle, a stock of ready-cut finished flowers would with its bronze mounts and other decorative fea-
have been built up, the 1763 inventory of Oeben’s tures.
workshop, for example, recording a chest of pre-cut On the other hand, this technique only allowed
marquetry flowers. one marquetry composition to be completed at a
When a piece of furniture was to be veneered with time. With intensive practice and long experience
floral decoration, the first stage would involve glu- the eighteenth-century craftsmen produced high
ing a sheet of background veneer onto a completed quality marquetry very quickly. However, the in-
solid wood carcasse. A simple drawing of the final dustrial revolution provided the impetus in the next
composition would then be outlined on the veneer century for the development of faster and cheaper
to assist with the placement of the flowers and mar- techniques which would alter the course of standard
quetry elements. The flowers and marquetry ele- marquetry practice. There are a few rare examples
ments selected for the design would be placed on of nineteenth-century marquetry using inlay, but to-
top of the background veneer and carefully marked day the technique is virtually extinct.
out into the veneer using a scriber. Turning to his
inlay shoulder knife, with its long handle mounted
with a sharp blade, the marqueteur would cut deep
into the background veneer along the scriber lines.
This is the process which can create the distinctive
marks on the solid wood carcasse. The cut-out por-
tion of the background veneer would then be re-
moved, creating a cavity into which the marquetry
elements would be fitted and glued. Each flower and
other decorative element were individually inlaid
using this technique.

86
 Marquetry Techniques in Paris during the second Half of the 18th Century

Figure 12 The veneer is maintained in position using Figure 13 Positioning and marking the Figure 14 Flower positioned and marked on
small nails. individual flowers and elements on the plain the background veneer.
background veneer.

Figure 15 Inlaying the flowers into the background veneer Figure 16 L’art du Menuisier by Figure 17 Modern reproduction of
using the shoulder knife. Andre-Jacob Roubo, c. 1772-1774. shoulder knife.
Shoulder knife.

87
Yannick Chastang

Figure 18 Removing excess material to create a cavity. Figure 19 Removing excess material to create a cavity.

Figure 20-21 Tools for removing excess material to create a cavity. Figure 22 Inlaying elements using a one handed knife
with a hammer, as represented in the c. 1770 painting
by Elias Martin showing an English marquetry workshop,
now at Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

88
 Marquetry Techniques in Paris during the second Half of the 18th Century

Figure 23 Finished marquetry panel giving an ap-

proximation of what the colours of Riesener’s furni-
ture might have looked like when originally made.

Yannick Chastang
Cabinetmaker and Furniture Conservator

Private workshop
Kent, U.K.

Tel. +44 (0) 17 95 22 82 52

E-mail: [email protected]
www.yannickchastang.com

89
Jack Metcalfe

Chippendale’s Marquetry revealed

Jack Metcalfe

I am a practicing marqueteur who has spent the The veneers used for the piece consist of a back-
last 12 years teaching, writing and lecturing on the ground of Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia),
designs and techniques of Thomas Chippendale’s surrounded by a narrow banding of East Indian Sat-
neo-classical marquetry furniture. This paper forms inwood (Chloroxylon swietenia) set between green
part of the work I am undertaking to produce a book dyed stringing, and finally the doors and drawers
of the above title, which will reveal the marquetry panels are framed in South American Tulipwood
techniques and working methods deployed by (Dalbergia frutescens) cross banding. The marque-
Chippendale during the period 1770-1775. try elements are all constructed from holly veneer
(Ilex sp.) On each door panel, wide cracks have ap-
peared due to movement of the oak substrate, caus-
ing concern that some veneers would be lost, unless
Door panel - Harewood Library writing
urgent remedial conservation work was not carried
table 1771 out. Because the surface cracks occurred in different
In 2003, I was invited to reconstruct a door panel places on each of the four doors, it provided a neces-
(Figure 1) belonging to the library writing table sary, but fortunate opportunity to lift and reinstate a
made by Thomas Chippendale 1771 for Harewood good selection of veneers from different parts of the
House, Leeds. The table is considered to be one of design and hopefully reveal how the marquetry was
Chippendale’s most prestigious works, representing established and constructed. Those revelations are
a fine expression of neo-classical design. The piece discussed in this paper.
has four matching doors – two on either side
allowing two people to work, facing each other.
Matching drawers are positioned above the door
panels on each side. The two end panels have a
central medallion from which elaborate sprays of
plumages burst from its centre.

90
 Chippendale’s Marquetry revealed

Figure 1 Door panel - Harewood Library Writing Table.

Diana & Minerva commode 1773 –

made for Harewood House
The Diana & Minerva Commode is perhaps consid- where gold, green and pink dominated. To comple-
ered by many as the finest piece of furniture ever ment the room the gold coloured satinwood provided
made by Thomas Chippendale. For many years, it the ideal foil, for displaying the green acanthus and
was considered to be his most expensive at £86, laurel foliage, while pink ribbons and paterae, bal-
until a second (unproven) commode made for Re- anced with red padauk and red berries throughout.
nishaw Hall in Derbyshire is said to have cost £140. Natural white holly completes the colour scheme,
I, along with a retired colleague and cabinet-maker/ with further embellishment provided by subtle sand
marqueteur - Ron Dickens, are currently building a shading, delicate pen work and engraving.
replica of the work. The main reason for this is to es-
tablish Chippendale’s techniques, both in construc-
tion of the commode and its elaborate and extensive
marquetry. The work is in progress as I write.
The main veneers used for the marquetry consist Veneer production
of a background of satinwood, with tulipwood cross Another, and quite startling discovery I was able to
banding framing each panel. The marquetry work is make about Chippendale was the production of ve-
mainly holly, dyed in a variety of colours, with a small neers for decorating his furniture. Up till commenc-
addition of padauk Pterocarpus dalbergiodes. The ing this project, I, and I suspect many others, had
dyed colours are determined from two sources, the always held the view that 18th century marquetry
one being the experience gained from lifting veneers furniture was consistently decorated with veneers
on the library writing table, the other being studies that were sawn from the log to a thickness of 3 mm
of the polychrome décor used on the plaster work or greater. A misconception that was quickly dis-
of Robert Adam’s ceiling and cornices at Harewood pelled when I measured a range of Chippendale’s
House. It has to be noted here that Adam and veneers (already glued and polished) to discover
Chippendale ‘set out’ to create a total polychromatic that they are all 1mm thick! I have now had access
effect in each of the state rooms at Harewood. The to over 90% of his (known) collection and the 1mm
Commode was made for the state dressing room, thickness (or thinness) is consistent throughout.

91
Jack Metcalfe

Figure 2 Diana & Minerva Commode – Harewood House 1773.

It must be said that the production of thin veneers, Tests on furniture at the Wallace Collection, London
prior to any subsequent treatments, is fundamental however, revealed that veneers on works by the
in achieving the techniques given in this paper. Paris-based ébénistes Oeben and Riesener were
A recent search for evidence of how thin veneers between 1.2 and 1.6 mm thick, but in places out-
were achieved, led me to the following article: The of-view, where secondary sanding would not have
Burlington Magazine Number 909 Volume cxx occurred, they measured 2mm. It has been noted
December 1978 by Michael Stürmer titled ‘Bois des that some Paris-made marquetry furniture was
Indes’ and the economics of Luxury Furniture in the sanded back on more that one occasion to restore
time of David Roentgen. the initial dyed colours. Therefore this test on French
The first paragraph (p. 803) describes the sawing furniture from the mid 18th century is inconclusive.
of veneers from an upright log by two men using a However, my finding do, at this stage, suggests that
large two-handed saw (Figure 3). It goes on to state the practice of sawing thin veneers occurred mainly
‘that they had a life-times practice of this specialist in London. Stürmer’s paper does state that German
work in producing 12 leaves to the inch’. On average, workshops, including Roentgen’s, used veneers that
getting 10-11 leaves per inch. With the loss of over were 2mm (minimum) and occasionally 3mm thick.
half the wood in sawdust from the kerf of the saw, A second method of thinning veneers after sawing,
meant that veneers were cut to a thickness of 1.2mm. is shaving the veneers with a draw knife, by an
Stürmer makes quotes from Roubo that he (Roubo) operative seated on a wood-shaving bench (Figure
disapproved of this practice, describing the resulting 4). Roubo’s supporting text mentions thinning solid
veneer as ‘tre mince’ (too thin), but eventually wood planks as well as veneers. I would suggest this
concedes that: ‘It was absolutely necessary, and that practice was used to remove saw marks and thin
the veneers were still strong enough to use’. wood even further. Typically, a draw knife is a tool
Further examination of two other mid 18th century used extensively by a ‘bodger’ (chair maker), where
London-based cabinet makers, who’s furniture is timber for making chair legs and stretchers are first
held in a private collection in Yorkshire showed that trimmed with the draw knife. Reference Roubo L’Art
they were also covered with 1mm thick veneers. du menuisier Vol 5 p.799.

92
 Chippendale’s Marquetry revealed

Figure 3 Sawing Veneers from log. Copyright Figure 4 Wood shaving bench. Copyright the ‘Colo-
the ‘Colonial Williams Foundation’ USA. nial Williams Foundation’ USA.

I can report that the bench and draw knife seen at refers) written for students taking furniture mak-
Figure 4, is used today by chair-makers, and that my ing courses in colleges/universities across the UK,
own experiments confirm its effectiveness in pro- illustrates and teaches the ‘template method’ con-
ducing smooth evenly thin veneers. struction of these motifs. Since my discovery that
Chippendale’s veneers were reduced to 1.2 mm,
my initial belief of knife construction is finally con-
firmed.
Bending veneers into compound angles is made
Why so thin? considerably easier if the veneers are first thinned.
My 12 years experience working with Chippendale This is a fact known to every veneerer and needs
motifs, has given me good reasons why Chippendale no further explanation. I have had considerable ex-
needed the source material to be as thin as could be perience in bending veneers over both convex and
achieved, without compromising stability. The rea- concave surfaces, and in each case the addition of
sons for this are: marquetry let into the veneers, prior to gluing, has
To permit dyes to permeate through the thickness made the operation achievable. Chippendale’s most
of ‘sheets’ of veneers. Our own experience in dying testing compound curved surface is unquestionably
holly for the reproduction panel of the writing table, the domed door on the Diana & Minerva Commode,
illustrated clearly that the thinner the veneer, the and the method of laying the veneers and marquetry
quicker it was to achieve full dye penetration. Since on this piece is discussed later.
we now know that Chippendale’s marquetry relied Mass production: I will be showing examples
on dyed veneers to achieve the colour range. This where neo-classical motifs are replicated in very
offers the first reason for this change in practice. large numbers, for making repetitive decoration on
Knife work. I have always held the view that one of Chippendale’s larger pieces of furniture.
paterae (fans as I call them) were constructed using
a craft knife and not a fret saw. My first book The
Marquetry Course (www.the-marquetry-course.net

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Jack Metcalfe

Figure 5 Acanthus leaves and damaged laurel leaf. Figure 6 No knife marks on the oak substrate.

Door panel – Harewood Library

writing table Evidence of packet fret sawing
The picture (Figure 1) shows one of the four This close-up (Figure 5) provides the first clues to
original doors before work started on lifting the techniques used to cut the marquetry and set
damaged veneers. It is important to see the two it into the rosewood ground. At the left side of the
matching acanthus leaves at top right hand side and picture we have acanthus leaves clearly showing a
top left hand side showing the curled leaves ‘cut saw kerf (gap) between the perimeter of the leaf,
short’, because when they were delivered by the and the ground veneer. A consistent thin black line
marqueteur (suggests an outside contractor), the provides the clue. This means that the acanthus
marquetry, already assembled into the rosewood leaves which form the outer structure of the vase
background veneer, was too big for the door panel. design was fret sawn as a ‘packet’ along with the
The cabinet maker had to maintain a constant rosewood veneers forming the ground. The laurel
‘border width’ throughout the piece for the assembly leaves, however, seen traversing the picture from top
to look balanced. Therefore he had no alternative left corner to right side, have tight joints, not only
but to reduce the marquetry on each side by 10mm. between the three petals making up each leaf, but
This is the first evidence that the marquetry could tight joints between the assembly and the rosewood
not have been ‘inlaid’ using a shoulder or inlay knife. ground. This initial sighting prompted the idea of
Had that been the case, the 10mm of leaf, which inlaying these elements with a knife, which I quickly
should have continued and curled upwards, could disproved by insisting that the damaged leaf shown
easily have been accommodated for. You can see how (centre) be lifted.
the leaf should have finished, by looking at the same
acanthus scrolls on the two examples at the very top
(left & right) of the design.
Evidence of two-part fret sawing
After removing the laurel leaves and one berry (Fig-
ure 6), it was revealed that there were no knife marks
on the oak substrate. Further more, the sides of the
edges of the rosewood ground were square to the

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 Chippendale’s Marquetry revealed

Figure 7a-c Green, pink, red & burgundy samples from original panel.

oak substrate to accommodate a matching bevelled with the addition of alum as the mordant, to produce
insert. It was clear that the only way these leaves the bright banana yellow. During soaking, which
could have been constructed into the background, is accelerated by heating, a solution of ‘vitriolated
with such consistently tight joints, was by using indigo’ (indigo dye dissolved in sulphuric acid) is
‘two-part’ fret sawing, also referred to as either added. Indigo is derived from the bush Indigofera.
piece-by-piece or the classic technique. sp. Control of the shade of green is achieved with the
indigo. The pink dye was obtained by using dragons
blood, a resin from the Dragon Tree Daemonorops,
indigenous to Tenerife. No mordant was necessary,
Dye recipes and after prolonged soaking in ethanol, heated up in
The range of colours used on the door panel a glass vessel each day for a week, full penetration
consisted of three shades of green, red, pink, and of the holly samples was eventually achieved.
burgundy (Figure 7), plus the natural white. For our The burgundy for the central part of the vase was
experiments holly veneer was used throughout and achieved using an infusion of powered Brasilwood
the dye recipes were taken from an article titled The Caesalpinia.sp and alum as the mordant.
Cabinet-Makers Guide to the whole art of Dying, The red for the berries was achieved using cochineal,
Staining Varnishing & Beautifying of Wood by Peter a dye derived from the female beetle, Dactylopius
Weber, Cabinet-maker and ébéniste, second edition coccus originating from Central America.
1809. I believe the above document is available ‘bite’) was tin chloride. The above dying and
from the British library. The dying process was co- subsequent inclusion of the now coloured veneers
ordinated by Ian Fraser – Senior Conservator, Leeds were eventually set into marquetry to two replica
Museums and Galleries, in his workshops at Temple panels, which I made at the latter end of 2003.
Newsam House. One panel has been standing alongside the writing
Three shades of green were obtained, first by table at Temple Newsam House since 2004, whereas
soaking holly veneers in an infusion of powered bark the other is kept inside a black protective bag,
of the barberry tree Berberis vulgaris and turmeric, preventing exposure to light, except for occasional

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Jack Metcalfe

Figure 8a Packet fret sawing of acanthus leaves. Figure 8b

brief hours during talks and demonstrations. The provide important registration marks for position-
exposed panel during the intervening three years ing the rest of the elements that make up the vase.
has suffered significant colour loss to the greens. Note that both panels are sawn from one sawing.
The pink has turned to a lilac colour, whereas the
burgundy vase and red berries have so far retained
their colours. The second panel, protected from the
light, has not suffered any loss of green, burgundy
or red shades, but like the first panel the pink dye The finished panel compared to the
(dragons blood) has turned lilac. I can only assume original
that some chemical reaction between the dye and
It’s worth noting on the original panel (Figure 9),
the tannin in the wood has caused this change.
that in general, dark woods turn lighter in colour
through exposure to light, whereas light colours
turn darker. You may also note that I also ‘cut-off’ the
Packet fret sawing the acanthus acanthus leaves (top left & right hand sides) on my
replica work, just to emphasise the original human
leaves error that fortuitously now provides us with vital
These two pictures (Figure 8) provide a step-by-step information about 18th century assembly methods.
overview of the packet fret sawing process, where
the design is first split down the centre and the two
halves of the rosewood is placed around two leaves
of green dyed holly (not shown). The packet, held
together with small veneer pins is then fret sawn
along lines of the drawing, so that both the right and
left hand matching acanthus leaves are cut from one
sawing action. Finally, as the packet is separated, the
sawn green leaves are seen let into the background
rosewood. These first elements to be sawn in,

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 Chippendale’s Marquetry revealed

Figure 9a-b Completed panel, compared to original.

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Jack Metcalfe

Figure 10a Lines drawn on a board.

Figure 11a-b Diana door panel, the

completed reconstuction versus
Figure 10b The completed design. the original.

Half round paterae on drawer fronts of

the Diana & Minerva commode
The 9 half moon shaped paterae on each of the On both figures, the background veneer is macas-
drawer fronts are all the same shape and size. The sar ebony Diospyros celebica. Corner fans are con-
design, initially drawn on a wooden board (Figure structed by the template method, while the garlands
10) acts as a ‘template’ for making multiple copies. of laurel leaves and pink ribbons on both panels are
The flutes of the fan are cut with a small craft knife, two-part fret sawn. The red berries are added with a
held against a straight edge. The scallops which bor- hollowed-out metal punch.
der the flutes, consist of white stringing, surrounded
by padauk border and a final row of berries, made
with a hollowed metal punch. My first book The Mar-
quetry Course provides step-by-step illustrations of
the template method construction, applicable to all Veneering the domed door panel
shapes of paterae (fans). It’s on this door panel (Figure 13) that Thomas Chip-
pendale showed his talents both as a designer and a
cabinet-maker. Without doubt, his vision and skill,
turned what would have been an impossible task,
Diana & Minerva door panel
into just another normal veneering operation. The
– new versus old domed door, because of its shape, makes standard
The completed door panels, compared to the origi- veneering techniques impossible, because there are
nal, shows what coloured veneers were used (Figure two acute compound angles working against each
11-12). Ivory, which forms Diana’s & Minerva’s flash other. One angle travels from top to bottom, while at
parts is still to be added, as well as the cross banding the same time another pulls from side to side. On the
borders surrounding the panels. face of it, a veneering impossibility!

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 Chippendale’s Marquetry revealed

Figure 12a Minerva door panel, the completed Figure 12b

reconstuction versus the original (12b).

Mass production and another proof of

two-part fret sawing
Thankfully, Chippendale’s designing genius and ob- This pier table (Figure 14) is one of a matching pair
vious practical experience, solved the problem. He made for Harewood House c. 1771. At 1.8 meters
first reduced the dome into eight equal segments, (5ft 11in) long and 770mm (2ft 6½in) wide, they
(as can be counted by the eight swags). This im- form one of the larger (not the largest) marquetry
mediately minimised the size of each piece of sat- surfaces of Chippendale’s collection.
inwood. His second move was to remove the stress The marquetry shows Chippendale at is most
in each segment at the critical and sharpest point of flamboyant. The stylish acanthus plumages down the
the curve, by adding swags of laurel leaves, plus a central column are truly amazing. The marquetry is
downward strip of leaves along the glue joints. The all constructed from holly. The background veneers
addition of the swags removes the stress in the sat- consist of two leaves of Indian rosewood, joined
inwood and with marquetry now added, each seg- down the central line. Each leaf is over 1.2 meters
ment bends easily into the acute part of the dome. (5ft) long and 300mm (1ft) wide: Clearly, impossible
However there is still one further problem at the to fretsaw leaves this size?
very top edge of the joints where two segments con- The first points to highlight are the cuts in the
verge with the downwards strips. I found that the rosewood background veneers. Two tiny tell-tale
two segments of satinwood still pulled away from cuts are visible at the ends of the two acanthus leaves
each other on the final 2 or 3 millimetres. Chippen- which almost touch the right and left hand borders.
dale obviously had the same problem, so he intro- The cuts are about 3mm long and are made across
duced a tiny white flower to cover up the unwanted the grain. Other cuts are made between the ends of
gap. The flowers are just visible above the junction each leaf arrangement and the bottom edge of the
where the laurel leaves converge. table. While these are not visible on the picture, on-
You now bear witness that the flowers are not site inspection shows them very clearly. In total, 8
added for artistic reasons, but to solve a practical cuts are made across the grain and 4 cuts with the
problem! grain on each of the two tables. What this means is

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Jack Metcalfe

Figure 13 Chippendale’s domed door.

that the background veneer was deliberately ‘cut-up’ Each of these elements are repeated 82 times, but
into manageable sizes to fit into the throat of the fret since there are two matching tables - 164 pieces had
saw. Had the marquetry been ‘inlayed’ into the rose- to be produced, each perfectly repeated in size and
wood ground after it had been glued to the substrate, shape.
the cuts would not have been necessary. If ever there This was achieved by making up packets of veneers,
was a case for ‘knife inlaying’ this would have been - say 10 sheets of green veneer held together in a
it, yet two-part fret sawing was clearly accommo- packet. With veneers sawn to a thickness of 1.2mm,
dated for instead. I have examined other large sur- packets of 10 veneers would have been 12mm thick,
faces from Chippendales collection, and I can clearly which is perfectly acceptable for fret sawing work.
illustrate on each piece how the background veneers In the case of the single acanthus leaf, multiple cop-
were ‘arranged’ into manageable sizes for sawing ies of the drawing would have been glued to the top
the required ‘windows’ to accommodate the mar- of the packet, and 10 elements fret sawn at a time.
quetry elements. My book, when published in 2008, By repeating the same drawing 16/17 times the 164
will reveal evidence on all his commissions, leaving elements were produced quickly and accurately. The
no doubt as to the method of laying. same procedure was used to produce the S Scrolls,
Finally, the border arrangement (Figure 14) de- except that these would have been sawn from pack-
serves special mention, because of its number of ets of dyed pink holly.
repeat motifs. I have counted 6 different elements
which make up the border – acanthus leaf, acanthus
stem, laurel leaf, S scroll, strap and a berry.

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 Chippendale’s Marquetry revealed

Figure 14 Pier table, one of a pair, Harewood House.

The elements, once all cut, are then laid out on the
rosewood ground veneer, to achieve a symmetrical
border. Once in place and held with tape or spots of
glue, a scored line is made using a small craft knife.
The elements are lifted off and the windows cut out
with a fret saw, by sawing up-to the scored line. The
cross banding border, because of its length, is cut
into lengths, short enough to fit into the throat of
the saw. Because the borders are cross grained, the
cuts are easily achieved with the grain. Finally, the
elements are let into their respective windows and a
perfect fit is achieved. Jack Metcalfe
Marqueteur

Private workshop
Leeds, U.K.

Tel. +44 (0) 11 32 75 66 87

E-mail: [email protected]
www.marquetrymatters.wordpress.com

101
Per Kortebäck

The Marquetry Artist Georg Haupt

– Cabinetmaker by Royal Appointment

Per Kortebäck

Georg Haupt is the most well known cabinetmaker The Duke of Choiseul at Chanteloup frequently used
that worked in Sweden during the eighteenth cen- Simon Oeben as his cabinetmaker. In 1768 Haupt
tury. And for good reasons, he not only brought the went on to London together with his nephew, the
neo-classical style in furniture to Sweden, but he artist Elias Martin, who had joined him in Paris 1766
also brought a new technique of making marque- to study art. Christopher Fürloh had already moved
try. Marquetry furniture in Sweden had been out of on to London before him. In London Haupt seems to
fashion for some time and was hardly used at the have worked for John Linnell but also probably had
time when Haupt became a cabinetmaker by royal a practice of his own. There is a small table now at
appointment. the Victoria and Albert museum that was designed
Georg Haupt was born in 1741. Both his father and by Sir William Chambers. It is signed by Haupt 4th
grandfather were court cabinetmakers so he was of February 1769.
more or less born in to the cabinet-making guild. In 1769 Haupt was made cabinetmaker by royal
He started as an apprentice to Johan Conrad Eck- appointment and returned to Sweden. He then in-
stein in 1754 and became a journeyman in 1759. troduced the technique of making marquetry that
In 1762 he travelled to Amsterdam together with he had learned during his journey, but evolved to his
a friend, another journeyman named Christopher own style by the use of engravings. He was a mas-
Fürloh. They both worked in Amsterdam during one ter in Stockholm for only 15 years before he died.
year. It is very little known of their time there, but But he had a large production and influenced many
in 1763 they went on to Paris where Haupt most others who copied him. Copies of Haupts furniture
probably worked for Simon Oeben. In 1767 Haupt has even been produced and sold during the 20th
worked at the castle of Chanteloup where he made century by IKEA.
a table with his sign hidden inside the construction.

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 The Marquetry Artist Georg Haupt

Figure 1 This is the first work Haupt made when he returned to

Stockholm. It is his masterpiece and was ordered by the King Adolf
Fredrik for Queen Lovisa Ulrika.

Figure 2 The signature is made as an engraving in the book at the

front of the top section: ‘Georg Haupt: Ebeniste du Roi fait Cet
Bureau’.

103
Per Kortebäck

Figure 3 This print by Francois Boucher was Figure 4 Centerpiece with cupid from com- Figure 5 Painting by Elias Martin called ‘Two
used by Haupt in some of his marquetry. mode made by Haupt. ebenists’, one cutting the ornament that the
other is inlaying.

The marquetry was made mostly in the same way The tools used by Haupt are also described in detail
throughout Georg Haupt’s production although in the estate inventory made after his death, as well
he had a great variety with many unique pieces as some of the different woods he used.
of furniture. He brought with him the knowledge By closely examining the marquetry you most
he gained from his stay in Paris, but his technique often can identify what technique has been used.
evolved in some way from the small table made in When inlaying the saw cut pieces into the back-
London, through his early pieces back in Sweden, to ground he used several different tools. When a chis-
his later production. el or knife is forced through the wood it bends the
The background was almost always made of fibres when cutting across the grain. Underneath
stained birch veneer surrounded by black and white the veneer there can be marks from several different
bandings and colourful friezes of tropical wood. kinds of tools used to make the cavity for the piece
He often added black lines to accentuate a three to be filled in.
dimensional effect together with shadings made by But it is in the engraving of the marquetry that
engravings. Haupt really shows his exceptional skill and makes
Haupt was very artistic and made many of his him unique. The engravings are very skilfully made
designs himself, but also used others from books and gives shades and fine details to the marquetry
and prints he had collected. It is clear that he was to make a three dimensional effect. The grooves
very artistic also in the way he interpreted designs where most often filled with black or brown wax in
from prints and drawings to engraved marquetry. different tones but also colours like red and white
Haupt inlaid his marquetry into the background where used, white to accentuate highlights instead
veneer in the same way as he had learned during of shades. Sometimes he could even use the engrav-
his journey. In the painting by Haupt’s nephew Elias ings to make details directly into the background ve-
Martin made in London 1768-80 you can clearly neer without inlaying.
see some of the tools used to saw and inlay the
marquetry.

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 The Marquetry Artist Georg Haupt

Figure 6 By the side of this flower the fibres have bent by the force of Figure 7 Here the mark from the center of the drill used to inlay the
the knife when the marquetry was inlaid into the background veneer. medallion is clearly seen behind the veneer.

Figure 8 This is a detail made by Jean-Henri Riesener. The banding is Figure 9 In this picture you can see the visible saw cuts in the flowers
made from one piece of veneer, cut in many parts and then shaded in by Riesener. There are no engravings at all. All details and shades are
hot sand to make it appear three-dimensional. made by visible saw cuts and burning.

105
Per Kortebäck

Figure 10 This is a detail by Haupt with engraved shades in the Figure 11 Another detail by Haupt where he used only engravings to
banding. make shades and details.

It is the engravings that parts Haupts technique like the birch I mentioned earlier. The fact that the
from the French masters. The inlaying technique is materials where expensive and hard to get is clearly
the same but Haupt used the engravings in a more illustrated by the fact that Haupt sometimes used
refined way. pieces of less quality in concealed places or even left
In Paris the marquetry was built up with many them out completely under brass mounts.
more parts and they used shadings made by scorch- His furniture was originally very colourful, and a
ing in hot sand and visible saw cuts to make details. lot of the marquetry was made with stained veneer.
Engravings were only occasionally used to make There are several contemporary descriptions with
details. Haupt used this technique of shading in hot Haupt telling about his bright coloured motifs in-
sand only initially during his stay in London and to layed into grey backgrounds.
some extent after his return to Sweden. Haupt never Haupt mainly used veneers that were already
used visible saw cuts to make details in leaves etc. stained when he cut the marquetry, and he used
He only used engravings. this method also for the big background veneers of
Like any great marquetry artist Haupt also must birch, which could be grey or brown. But sometimes
have used several different techniques when making he also stained the veneer after it had been inlaid
his marquetry, not only inlaying. One other method and engraved.
that was used during this period was cutting with By first dividing one single piece with engravings
an angle. He most probably got in contact with it in it could give the impression of many parts, each with
Paris where it was used occasionally. I have not seen its own colour. However, this makes the colouring
any proof that he used it in his marquetry, but it is even more sensitive to both light and wear, and has
a fair guess since he used it to fill in holes in his ve- probably disappeared quickly.
neers and like here, in a bottom of a drawer.
The materials used where sometimes very exclu-
sive and came from Europe, Africa, America and
Australia. Many of them are the same as used in Par-
is and London, but he also used many native species

106
 The Marquetry Artist Georg Haupt

Figure 12 In some cases Haupt could also avoid artificial shadings Figure 13 Drawer bottom by Haupt where a damage in the wood has
completely and instead used the wood grain to make it look three- been filled by cutting two superimposed pieces with an angle to obtain
dimensional as he did with this rosette. a closed joint. A thin saw blade is inserted in the joint to show the
angled cut.

Figure 14 Detail by Haupt that has been protected from light, and kept Figure 15 This festoon, with the ribbon wrapped around it, must have
a lot of its original colour. been made with the technique of staining after engraving since it is
made from only one single piece of veneer.

107
Per Kortebäck

Figure 17 This copy of the roll top is made out of both natural and
coloured wood after the heraldic rules for the small Royal arms of
Sweden. The border and bandings are made out of naturally coloured
woods while the small Royal arms are made solely with stained
woods.

Figure 16 This roll top desk with foldable legs was made by Haupt for
the Royal family in 1779.

In France and Germany you can sometimes see that Engravings seldom have its original beauty pre-
pieces in the marquetry has been stained by soaking served. Most often there are only remains of them
them in colour after cutting, but before gluing them. left as they have been sanded and sometimes even
This can be seen because the stain is much stronger filled in by less skilled craftsmen. But if you are lucky
along the saw cuts. Especially if the pieces have been enough to see a well-preserved marquetry by Haupt
sanded down, the stain can be completely gone, ex- it will be very detailed and the engravings contrib-
cept around the edges where it has soaked further in utes enormously to its beauty.
to the wood. I have seen no evidence of Haupt using Haupt influenced the upcoming Swedish cabinet-
this technique though. makers that followed in his footpath, not only in
Although sometimes we can only guess the bright style but also in techniques. Most of them however
original colours, there are a few pieces of marque- were way behind him in skill.
try that we can be quite sure of its original colour Haupt was for sure among the best craftsmen in
by the motif – like the small Royal arms on a roll top Europe – both past and present!
desk. The small Royal arms of Sweden have a blue
background with pearls and precious stones in the
golden crown and green laurel festoons hanging by
its sides.
There is still some furniture by Haupt that has
been protected from light and where many of the Photography by Per Kortebäck and Alexis Daflos,
colours are still visible. Royal Collection, Stockholm.

108
 The Marquetry Artist Georg Haupt

Figure 19 Detail by Haupt, which is very well preserved. Although some of the fillings in the engravings have fallen out it still shows all the
exceptionally fine details.

Figure 18 Detail by Haupt where both colour and engravings have

been well protected and preserved.
Per Kortebäck
Cabinetmaker and Furniture Conservator

E-mail: [email protected]

109
Ulli Freyer

Different Materials
– Visual Exactness, Treatments, Tools

Ulli Freyer

During my years of experience with working on While working I have seen quite a lot of objects with
Boulle objects and the materials brass, pewter, Boulle marquetry showing replacements which do
turtleshell, horn, ivory as well as mother-of-pearl I not correspond with the original in size and form.
have always had a strong interest for the individual On the illustrations on the next page you see the
materials of this marquetry type themselves. example of a French bureau Mazarin made at the
Turtleshell and ivory are materials deriving from beginning of the 18th century. The six drawers show
animals being under protection since 30 years. identical, symmetrical Boulle marquetries made of
Therefore these materials are not to be used any turtleshell and brass.
longer. One of the results of these measures is the Figure 1 shows the detail of a drawer with original
rapid loss of the passed on knowledge on these parts of the marquetry. This detail is to be found six
materials, their manufacturing techniques and the times in this form as well as six times back to front.
tools traditionally used in combination with these Due to earlier reworking, the engravings are nearly
materials. lost.
In regard to the materials horn and mother-of- Figure 2, the upper right side of the piece, shows
pearl there is, in my opinion, not much difference the same detail. In comparison, the replacement of
as the production and work on these materials the floral ornament in the middle does differ quite
in Europe are not considered to be economically obviously from the original form. The replacement
efficient. does not reflect the multi-leaf structure of the floral
As I would like to point out in the following it ornament. Its only function here is to replace the
is exactly this sort of knowledge and the skilled missing part.
handling of the materials that I consider to be one This discrepancy is puzzling, as the ‘negative form’
of the most important qualifications when restoring of the shape had been preserved for the most part.
Boulle marquetry.

110
 Different Materials

Figure 1 Drawer front of a bureau Mazarin, early 18th century.

Figure 2 The red arrow points at the replacment, which differ quite obviously from the original seen in figure 1.

111
Ulli Freyer

Figure 3 The replacement of the complete brass ornament.

Figure 3 shows the replacement of the complete I would like to break down my explanation of this
brass ornament. The brass replacement is more theory with some arguments. I will start with the
similar to the original than the example shown habits of seeing.
before but still wider than the original and also What do we see? What influence does our profes-
different in regard to the shape of its leaves, here in sion and the materials we work with have on our
the middle of the picture. Although the original brass perception?
form and the surrounding shape in turtleshell was To clarify this principle further, a short explanation:
still existent, the replacements and the original do A carpenter works at the construction of a roof with
not correspond. A fact which is even more disturbing an accuracy of about 1mm, a furniture maker works
considering that producing these replacements was on a piece of furniture with an accuracy of about
as time-consuming as sawing matching ones. 0,2mm, a goldsmith works with an accuracy of about
Replacements like that I have seen many. Often 0,05mm. Each sort of craftsmanship and material
I have asked myself how this kind of mismatching has its own ‘accuracy’ which depends on the nature
forms could have occured. How could it be that and size of the objects being worked on.
though the original forms of the marquetry ornament Being a professional everybody puts himself every
are still preserved the replacement could look totally day at training in a specific way of ‘seeing’ – I would
different from it in the end? What had happened like to call this visual exactness.
during the manufacturing of the replacements? Did By reflecting on one’s own profession it is interest-
the person doing them not have a proper first look? ing to discover and classify one’s own visual exact-
Is it the material? ness.
Or is it that the person had been trained on working I would like to point out that the visual exactness
with wood where he or she gained skills which are does not only have an effect on the way we are look-
not to be disregarded, but in my opinion not helpful ing at an object but also on with which kind of accu-
with working with turtleshell and brass as they are racy we are working on it.
not applicable on these sorts of materials.

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 Different Materials

Figure 4a Wood marquetry made of holly and grained Figure 4b A similar ornament in a Boulle marquetry
walnut. consisting of brass and turtleshell.

While working on an object we develop a certain What are the differences between wood and Boulle
kind of sensitivity of the motoric skills, which varies marquetries? I would like to point out the differ-
between the different sorts and categories of profes- ences to you by comparing a wood marquetry to a
sions. Boulle marquetry.
Another aspect to which is not paid enough atten- In figure 4a you see a wood marquetry made of
tion to is the practical knowledge on handling the dif- Holly and grained walnut, in figure 4b a Boulle mar-
ferent sorts of materials Boulle marquetry consists quetry consisting of brass and turtleshell. The size
of. The quality of this kind of knowledge I would like of the details shown is comparable. If we look at the
to value and look at from a similar perspective like outer form of this part of the wood marquetry, we
a musician whose constant practising and refining find that it is slightly uneven, the contour of the vo-
leads to virtuosity in handling the material. lute shows no precise line. Visually this is not dis-
As Boulle marquetries, which for the most part turbing – it even more so is part of what is to be con-
consist of the materials turtleshell and brass, are of- sidered as the typical character of wood marquetry.
ten applied as veneer on furniture, it is most often Looking at the similar ornament cut in brass (figure
carpenters or furniture conservators working on 4b), we find that the outer edge is an exact line. Due to
them. Nevertheless the materials brass, pewter, tur- the homogenous structure of the metal such a precise
tleshell, horn, ivory and mother-of-pearl are materi- finish of a contour is possible. To achieve a similar re-
als from the field of goldsmithing and other different sult in wood marquetry, due to the different grades of
areas of the applied arts. hardness of the early and late woods and the fibrous,
Looking at the materials of the surface of Boulle lined up structure of wood, is nearly impossible.
furniture the marquetry part of this type of furni- Thus, the accuracy obtainable in finishing wood
turewould have to be sent to a conservator special- does differ from metal. In relation to the thoughts
ized in working with decorative arts. This leads to developed before on the subject of visual exact-
the question if the surface materials do justify such ness one could assume that a person being used to
a conclusion. sawing wood marquetry with his, according to his

113
Ulli Freyer

Figure 5a The cut follows the outer edge of the ornament. Figure 5b The cut also cuts into the material the ornament is
formed with, here the turtleshell.

profession, certain type of accuracy would work the So the capture and inclusion of the individual pro-
brass differently for example to a goldsmith. duction and finish of each and every marquetry is
It is highly likely that a replacement cut by a wood an other essential criteria of producing appropriate
marqueteur would look different from the one cut replacements, and also separates the conservation
by a goldsmith. from the new production.
In summary, it is to say, that the quality of the The importance of the knowledge on the charac-
work depends on the visual exactness, the motorical teristics of the Boulle marquetry materials and its
skills, the training in working with a material and processing becomes clear when it comes to the topic
the material’s own specific characteristics. of ‘surface treatment’.
This is to be applied on both: a newly-made article The surface of many Boulle marquetries look just
and a replacement as part of a conservation. like figure 6. Grinding marks are easy to recognize
Is there any other ability required to produce on the brass. The marquetry is coated with varnish,
replacements for the conservation of Boulle though the surface of the brass and the turtleshell
marquetries? A close look on Boulle marquetries will should have been polished. To give back some shine
result in the discovery that they can be extremely to the surfaces, here, these once polished materials
different from one another. Here are two examples: were first treated with abrasive paper or steel wool
At the Boulle marquetry in figure 5a the line of the and then covered with some sort of varnish.
cut follows the outer edge of the ornament. Here are To achieve shine on wood it is first grinded with
no cuts into the ornament. abrasive paper just to 240 grit and then polished
At the Boulle marquetry in figure 5b the direction with shellac. The difference between wood and the
of the cut follows the line of the ornament. The cut materials brass and turtleshell in achieving a shiny
also cuts into the material the ornament is formed surface is that these two materials themselves are
with, here the turtleshell. polished until their gleam with no necessity of add
ing any other varnish. Grinding these materials as if

114
 Different Materials

Figure 6 Grinding marks are easy to recognize on the brass.

they were wood, for example as to finish their pro- a good compression of its surface. Grinding pewter
cessing with an abrasive paper type 240 or 320 will does not bring good results, as it is for example in
only result in a final grind far too coarse for brass comparison to brass, too soft in its structure.
and tortoiseshell. The natural denseness of the ma- Ivory is traditionally put into shape with rasps
terial surfaces becomes deeply rugged and therefore and files. The surface is then smoothed by using
the falling light is scattered diffusely and hardly any scrapers. After that the ivory is grinded with silicon-
more reflected. That is why these materials seem carbide abrasive paper type 400-600 and polished
dull and matte after such a treatment. Also the ap- with watered-blended pumice powder. For the final
plication of a polishing varnish does not result in a polish ethanol-blended chalk priming and a soft
shining surface. Indeed, the varnish does cover the cloth are used. The ethanol dissolves the collagens
‘damage’, but does not repair it – there is only a re- in the ivory structure which harmonizes the surface
flection of light on the surface of the varnish and of the material. Polishing the ivory with a soft cloth
therefore it is not the correct type of polish required brings out the typical shine of the material.
by these sorts of materials. Turtleshell is planed with a special plane until
Each material mentioned requires a different sort it has the right thickness and then shaved smooth
of technique to achieve a shining surface finish. Let with a cabinet scraper. After that it is grinded with
us look in detail at each different procedure applied abrasive paper type 400-1000, then polished with
on these materials used today. chalk priming and tripoli.
The surface of a pewter plate usually first gets By explaining the different types of surface treat
compressed thoroughly by using a thick polishing ments coming along with the different sorts of
steel. After that, the surface of the pewter is shaved materials it has become obvious that they do differ
smooth with a very fine cabinet scraper and polished from one another and very much so in comparison
until it gleams by using fine polishes. The quality of with the surface treatment of wood.
a finished pewter plate surface mostly depends on

115
Ulli Freyer

The metals brass and pewter of Boulle objects As a beginning, efforts are taken right now to iden-
privately owned do need a protective cover against tify and recognize the different types of ivory from
corrosion. Turtleshell, horn, ivory and mother-of- Asia, East- and West-Africa, as well as the materials
pearl do not require any kind of protection when similar to ivory: mammoth, walrus, sperm whale
handled with care. and narwal.
I have noticed, that there is not only a difference in For turtleshell, there are no longer any work-
the surface treatment of these materials but also a shops left processing and working with this mate-
difference in the academical approach to them. rial, as it also derives from a protected species. The
This also has an influence on the questions asked knowledge on classifiying and naming the different
and answers found. types of turtleshell seems to have gone nearly lost.
Wood, brass and pewter are materials still much What was considered to be common knowledge in
in use and therefore data on them in regard to their the workshops working with turtleshell a hundred
technical characteristics are well-documented. years ago for example the differentiation between
During the conservation process of marquetry, the three types of turtleshells and their classifica-
usually brass and pewter get more and more often tion according to colour and structure, seems now
chemically analyzed. As a result first hints on the to be hardly available anymore.
historically used alloys come up. The turtleshell of the Hawksbill turtle, figure 7a,
Until the middle of the 18th century European was called in France rouge fonce, the one in figure
brass consisted of copper and calamine which led to 7b, cerise clair. In Germany the turtleshell was clas-
an alloy containing a maximum of 30% zinc. sified by numbers from III to XII, a system where the
In Europe, metallic zinc was not produced before number 3 would have stood for a very dark type of
the middle of the 18th century, and therefore turtleshell, the 12 for a very ‘blonde’ one. The tur-
probably not used until the early 19th century tleshell in figure 7a would have been classified as a
during the production of brass. VII, the one in figure 7b as a IX uni.
In India metallic zinc had already been produced In figure 8 an example of the detail of a French
since the 14th century, but we do not yet know 18th century clock may illustrate, that the different
enough of the early imports and use of Indian zinc types of turtleshell were put in place at the object
in Europe. Nevertheless it could be possible to find according to their ‘characteristics’. The wide filé on
a brass alloy containing more than 30% of zinc at a the right is made of longitudinally-welded pieces of
17th century object. turtleshell from the Hawksbill turtle, the marquetry
From time to time, when analyzing pewter, apart seen next to it consists of brass and turtleshell of the
from led, mercury in an addition of 1-8% is found. Loggerhead turtle. As I do not know any museum
How and for what reason this was added, is still classifying the different types of turtleshell at their
another open question to be solved. objects, it is very hard to acknowledge experience in
On the materials turtleshell, horn, ivory and this field.
mother-of-pearl there is hardly any technical data. For the work and the conservation of an object it
One of the reasons is that these materials play no needs more than just the knowledge on how to han-
longer a role in the today industrialized production dle a material. It needs skills which cannot be found
of objects. There are hardly any workshops left in the written sources as for example a dictionary
working with these materials. Therefore the or an online data bank – the visual exactness, fine
procuring of horn and mother-of-pearl as semi- motorical skills and experience.
finished products becomes more and more difficult. For that reason, for the conservation of furniture
Very rarely, material analyses are made of these showing Boulle marquetry or veneers including ma-
materials during conservation. terials other than wood the team work of the fur-
One gets the impression as if it is considered to niture conservator and a conservator being special-
be sufficient enough to subsumize for example the ised in working with the marquetry materials might
different types of mother-of-pearl under the general be the best.
term of ‘mother-of-pearl’.
Deriving from a protected species, the few work-
shops still working with ivory have switched to using
other sorts of ivory or similar materials: mammoth
ivory, ivory from other animals, bone and stonenut.

116
 Different Materials

Figure 7a Turtleshell of the Hawksbill turtle, France:

rouge fonce, Germany: number VII.

Figure 8 The turtleshell around the ornament is of the Loggerhead

turtle and on the board to the right, turtleshell from the Hawksbill turtle.

Figure 7b Turtleshell of the Hawksbill turtle, France:

cerise clair, Germany: number IX uni.
Ulli Freyer
Furniture Conservator

Bern, Switzerland

Tel. +41 (0) 313 01 31 31

E-mail: [email protected]

117
Iskander Breebaart and Paul van Duin

The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral

Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren

Iskander Breebaart
Paul van Duin

Introduction
In the last decade of the seventeenth century, fur- Jan van Mekeren was born in Tiel in 1658. He was
niture almost completely covered with marquetry working in Amsterdam before he moved to London
made of many wood species, became very popular in 1682.1 He married in 1687 in Amsterdam. In 1704
in the Netherlands. The Rijksmuseum owns a large he is mentioned as one of the best cabinetmakers in
group of this kind of furniture, including cabinets, Amsterdam.2 Floral marquetry was his specialty and
tables, gueridons and mirror frames, and some of although he did not become as famous as his French
the finest examples attributed to the Dutch cabinet- fellow-craftsman André-Charles Boulle (1642-
makers Jan van Mekeren (1658-1733) and Philips 1732), the style and composition of the flowers are
van Santwijck (1632-1712) (Figures 1, 2 and 25). more naturalistic than those of the French examples.
Much of this furniture was in need of conservation In the inventory made up after Van Mekeren’s death
treatment. They were unstable, showed cracks and in 1733, the importance of his workshop is evident.
discoloured previous restorations as well as loose Numerous cabinets, tables and gueridons are men-
and missing veneers. In 1995, a major conservation tioned, including four doors and two tables with flo-
programme for this group of furniture was started ral marquetry and a small cabinet with cut flowers.
as part of the national project Deltaplan voor Cul- Dutch furniture hardly ever bears a signature of the
tuurbehoud, aiming at a better preservation of the maker, but the detailed inventory and a strong rela-
cultural heritage in museum collections. Between tionship to a piece in a private collection make the
1997 and 1999 the furniture conservation staff of attribution plausible.3
the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam executed the con- We made a detailed photo documentation as well
servation of the Van Mekeren table and cabinet. The as tracings of the complete design of the marquetry.
present article will focus on the most interesting as- The tracings proved very helpful during the conser-
pects of the treatment of the cabinet, on the choices vation process. Copies of the marquetry tracings
that were made and it will also discuss the research were used for locating the loose pieces of veneer
that was carried out into the production of Van and for documenting the treatment. In a later stage
Mekeren’s marquetry. the tracings were indispensable for a better under-
standing of the marquetry design.

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 The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren

Above:
Figure 1 Cabinet with floral marquetry ( after
conservation). Oak, veneered with king-
wood, ebony, rosewood, olive-wood, holly,
boxwood, barberry, sycamore and other
woods, h. 205 cm, w. 173 cm, d. 61 cm.
Amsterdam, ca. 1695-1700, attributed to
Jan van Mekeren. Rijksmuseum, BK-1964-
10.

Right:
Figure 2 Table with floral marquetry (after
conservation). Oak, veneered with king-
wood, ebony, rosewood, olive-wood, holly,
boxwood, barberry, sycamore and other
woods, h. 77 cm, w. 100 cm, d. 69,5 cm.
Amsterdam, ca. 1695-1700, attributed to
Jan van Mekeren. Rijksmuseum, BK-1962-
50.

119
Iskander Breebaart and Paul van Duin

Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Condition of the cabinet

The construction of the stand was fragile, because X-rays were taken in order to obtain a more precise
many of the joints between the legs and the lower understanding of the construction of the doors. They
stretcher were loose. showed the dimensions of the mitred frame and five
Due to shrinkage of the construction timber both stretchers (Figure 5). In the hollow spaces between
sides of the cabinet had vertical cracks in the mar- the stretchers, thirty glue-blocks were visible. These
quetry. Old fillings in the cracks were discoloured or were applied along the grain of the boards where
loose. Some of the veneer along the cracks had been they covered the joints, and cross-grain in the mid-
previously replaced. Despite the filling the cracks dle of the boards, probably to prevent shrinkage.
had partly reopened again. The boards had shrunk nevertheless. The X-rays also
The marquetry on the doors was also in a poor revealed nails in the stretchers.
condition. Each door had two large vertical cracks, We also wanted to establish if the nails were driven
with discoloured previous restorations which badly in from the back or the front. With the help of a little
disrupted the image of the marquetry (Figure 3). The magnet hanging from a piece of tape we concluded
uneven level of the boards along the cracks made that the nails were driven in from the back of the
this even worse. During an earlier treatment some door, as the attraction of the magnet along the back
nails were inserted in an attempt to fix the boards was evidently stronger than on the front (Figure 6).
onto the inner frame. The interior of the doors also We concluded that the doors were manufactured by
showed long, previously filled, cracks (Figure 4). first glueing together three oak boards, butt-joined
to form a thin front panel of 8 mm thickness. A mi-
tred frame was subsequently glued onto the back of
Construction of the doors the panel, followed by the stretchers and glue-blocks,
The oak construction is only visible at the upper and all ca 8 mm thick. The back panel, also consisting of
lower ends of the doors, as these are not veneered. three butt-joined boards of 8 mm thickness was sub-
These ends have end-grain oak on either side of an sequently glued and nailed onto the frame, stretch-
oak stretcher, indicating a sandwich construction. By ers and the glue-blocks. We assume that the nails
knocking on the doors it was obvious that they were were used because a large surface had to be glued
mostly hollow. We concluded that the construction at once, which is time-consuming and also makes it
of the doors probably consisted of a framework with more difficult to apply enough pressure with glue
thin oak panels on either side. The cracks in the mar- clamps. After assembling the door the right and left
quetry corresponded with open joints between the ends were veneered and at last the front and back
oak boards of the panels. were veneered with marquetry (Figures 7-8).

120
 The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren

Figure 3 Detail of the right door of the cabinet in figure 1. The

marquetry with a sunflower beneath a crown imperial is distorted
by a 3 mm wide vertical crack, with a discoloured filling. The
sunflower has several small round fillings concealing nails that
were used to stabilize the oak boards underneath the marquetry.

Figure 4 The interior of the left door of the cabinet in figure 1. The
marquetry of olivewood has a vertical crack of 2-3 mm wide, with
a slightly discoloured filling.

Figure 5 X-ray of the top right corner of the right door of the
cabinet in figure 1. The frame, with a mitred joint, and also the
stretchers are nailed onto the boards. The glue blocks are ap-
plied alternately in a horizontal and vertical direction.

Figure 7 The construction of the left door of the cabinet in figure 1. The Figure 6 Iskander Breebaart determining the depth of the nails with a
rosewood veneer from the left end is removed. The bottom shows the magnet hanging from a piece of tape.
end grain of the front- and back panel, with the frame in between. Sketch
Up drawing by Iskander Breebaart.

Figure 8 An exploded view of the components of the left door of the cabinet in figure 1. Sketch Up drawing by Iskander Breebaart.

121
Iskander Breebaart and Paul van Duin

Deciding on the conservation

treatment
Understanding the construction was paramount Disadvantages of dismantling and reglueing the con-
for deciding which treatment was preferable for struction and closing the cracks:
the doors. One option would be to fill and retouch
- Dismantling the doors is a considerable inter-
the cracks in the marquetry, after conserving the
vention and sound veneer on the ends has to be
construction as well as possible without taking the
temporarily removed in order to lift the boards
doors apart. Another option would be to dismantle
from the frame and stretchers;
the construction of the doors, in order to be able to
reglue all joints and close the cracks. - Closing the joints between the shrunken boards
means that the width of the doors becomes about
Advantages of filling and retouching: 4 mm narrower. There will be a small loss of ma-
terial if the stretchers are shortened. If the boar-
- The treatment is safe and reversible; ds are broadened a strip of wood has to be added
- The treatment takes comparatively little time. which will remain visible and which will not be
authentic;
Disadvantages of filling and retouching: - The treatment will take quite a lot of time.
- The marquetry design will remain distorted even
after filling the crack; After careful consideration and discussions with
- Consolidation of the construction is only possi- various other conservators, for instance with Ger-
ble to a limited extent; man conservators during a visit from members of
the AdR (German Society for Conservation) to the
- Movement of the boards due to differences in RH
Rijksmuseum furniture department, we choose to
cannot be restricted and the cracks might reap-
dismantle and reglue the construction of the doors
pear;
and close the cracks. The excellent result of a similar
- The filling material might discolour in time. treatment of the Van Mekeren table (Figure 9) and
previously the cabinet initially attributed to Pierre
Advantages of dismantling and reglueing the con- Gole, but now to André Charles Boulle, played an
struction and closing the cracks: important role in the discussion.4 Closing the cracks
- The boards can be firmly glued onto the stretch- would significantly improve the aesthetical image of
ers and will be level again. This will stabilize the the doors as well as the stability of the construction.
boards and considerably limit movement of Since the front was only glued and not nailed onto
the frame and stretchers, it could be removed rela-
the boards due to fluctuations of the RH;
tively easy. After removing the front panel, the con-
- The cracks in the marquetry will be closed and
struction would become more accessible, facilitating
hardly visible. The marquetry will regain much
the dismantling of the glued as well as nailed back
of its original appearance;
panel.
- The loose veneer along the crack will be consoli-
dated.

122
 The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren

Figure 9 The top of the table in figure 2.

Figure 10 The crack in the marquetry of the Figure 11 The left door of the cabinet in figure 1. The front right board has been removed.
right door of the cabinet in figure 1, after The interior of the door is visible on the right, the removed front board is turned over onto the
cleaning. front of the door.

123
Iskander Breebaart and Paul van Duin

Figure 12 The front panel of the right door of the cabinet in figure 1. The boards have been rejoined
and loose marquetry glued into their original position.

Conservation treatment
The treatment was started by mechanically remov- The joints between the boards were some millime-
ing the old fillings, using scalpels and small chisels tres open in the middle of the joint. The boards had
(Figure 10). Loose parts of the marquetry, as well been less restrained in the middle of the door be-
as marquetry overlapping the open joints between cause the glue-joints between boards and stretchers
the boards, were temporarily removed. The veneer had separated, probably a long time ago. With mod-
on both ends of the door had to be removed, as this erate pressure, applied with sash-cramps, we were
covered the sandwich construction of the panels and able to close the joints completely. Immediately after
frame. The glue was softened by moisturising the ve- glueing the construction, the loose marquetry pieces
neer with damp tissue covered with Melinex, after were returned to their original position (Figure 12).
which the veneer was lifted with a thin spatula. After the front boards were reassembled, the joints
The front oak boards were removed relatively easy between the boards were secured by reglueing the
with long thin knives and a little ethanol. Especially glue blocks in their original position (Figure 13).
towards the middle of the door, the glue joints be- The dismantling of the back panel was slightly
tween stretchers and oak boards were already loose. more difficult, because the boards were nailed as
On each door, one board could be removed sepa- well as glued onto the frame and stretchers. The
rately while the two other boards had to be care- nails had become accessible after removing the
fully lifted together, as they were still firmly joined front boards (Figure 14). All nails were corroded in
underneath the crossgrain veneer of the tabletop in the wood and therefore difficult to remove without
the marquetry. breaking them. With a soldering iron we heated the
The stretchers and glue blocks of the interior of tips of the nails. The iron nails expanded and when
the doors now became exposed (Figure 11). The cooling down shrunk a little. In most cases we could
blocks were temporarily removed from the front lift the board from the stretcher, leaving the nail in
and back boards. Old glue and fillings were also re- the board. Unfortunately a few of the nails broke off
moved from the surface of the cracks, after which or broke out of the back panel.
the boards of the front panel could be rejoined.

124
 The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren

Figure 13 The reassembled front panel of the right door of the Figure 14 The interior of the right door of the cabinet in figure
cabinet in figure 1, as seen from the back. The glue blocks have 1, after the front boards and glue blocks have been removed.
been reapplied in their original position.

Figure 15 The back of the right door of the cabinet in figure 1, Figure 16 The reassembled back of the right door of the
after the two outer back boards have been removed. cabinet in figure 1.

125
Iskander Breebaart and Paul van Duin

Figure 17 The right door of the cabinet in figure 1, after conservation. Figure 18 Jan van Huysum, Still life with flowers, 1723. Oil on panel,
81 x 61 cm. Rijksmuseum, SK-A-188.

The middle boards of the back panels did not have The doors were now ready to be completely reas-
to be removed from the frame and stretchers (Figure sembled. For glueing the construction, we used hot
15). To close the joints between the middle boards animal glue (Sheppy). We preheated the interior of
and the outer boards, the latter had to be moved both panels using a photo lamp and hot iron plates.
slightly inwards. Therefore, the nail holes in the The missing pieces were replaced using veneer of
stretchers had to be adjusted. Although the nails did the right colour and grain (not necessarily the same
not provide any strength, they would be preserved type). Most of the light-coloured veneer was slightly
and retain their position in the back panel. A small darkened, before cutting out the pieces. A natural
drill was used to elongate the holes in the stretch- aged colour was obtained by placing the veneer in a
ers. Where nails had broken out of the boards, the pre-heated vacuum oven.
holes in the boards had to be elongated extremely The position of the hinges on the frame remained
carefully to prevent damage to the marquetry on the unaltered. As the horizontal parts of the frame had
outer side. been slightly shortened, the hinges protruded ca
The shrinkage of the boards meant that some of 2 mm more than before. The gap between the two
the stretchers were too long to fit between the ver- doors has become ca 4 mm bigger, but this is just
tical parts of the frame, which were not removed covered by the central vertical moulding on the right
from the outer boards. Small parts (1-3 mm) had to door. Closing the cracks on the doors and the sides
be removed from the outer ends of the stretchers as revealed that very little of the marquetry was miss-
well from the mitred joints in the corners. After this, ing. As foreseen, the former cracks in the marquetry
the back boards fitted properly onto the frame and were hardly visible after conservation. The com-
stretchers and this part of the construction could be plete marquetry panel can now be admired without
reassembled (Figure 16). The re-glued front boards distortions and discolorations (Figure 17).
were slightly warped, but the relatively thin front
panel (8-9 mm thick) was flexible enough to be flat-
tened onto the stretchers.

126
 The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren

Above:
Figure 19 Tracing of the marquetry of the top of the table in figure 2.

Left:
Figure 20 Tracing of the marquetry of the right door of the cabinet in figure 1.

Examination of the floral marquetry

The macro- and microscopically identified woods The composition of the marquetry on the Van Mek-
used for the marquetry are walnut, ebony, barberry, eren furniture is very complex. Especially the flow-
purpleheart, kingwood, boxwood, olivewood and er bouquets on the doors and the table top have a
holly. Two wood species could not be identified and very three-dimensional appearance. There is a great
are probably tropical. Holly is used especially for similarity with the floral still-life paintings that were
most of the light-coloured flowers. Great variety in famous in Holland, made for instance by Jan Davidsz
the appearance of the holly has been achieved by de Heem (1606- ca 1683) and the younger Jan van
cutting the veneer at different angles (radial or tan- Huysum (1682-1749) (Figure 18). The marquetry
gential) from the log and also the reflection varies of flowers, branches, leafs and also birds and insects
considerably, depending on the horizontal or verti- is also very naturalistic. Many flowers and branches
cal direction of the grain on the cabinet.5 Many flow- are half hidden behind other branches and flowers.
ers thus give the impression that they are composed The conservation treatment provided us with an ex-
out of different wood-species, while they only con- cellent opportunity to find out how the marquetry
sist of various holly veneers. The individual pieces was designed and produced. Was the composition
of marquetry are shaded, undoubtedly by dipping as a whole designed or derived from an ornament
them into hot sand. The marquetry must have been drawing and cut out piece by piece? At closer inspec-
very colourful, because of the great variety in natu- tion, we noticed similarities between the flowers on
ral colours of the different species of wood. This was the different pieces of Van Mekeren furniture. Did
further enhanced by staining the wood. The stains that mean that the marquetry was composed out of
are no longer visible at the front, but we observed pre-cut flowers? To obtain a better understanding
traces of red, blue and green on the back of the mar- of the production, we made tracings of the complete
quetry. In the green stained wood, XRF-analysis marquetry of the table and the cabinet (Figures 19-
showed the presence of copper, indicating that a cu- 20).
pric acetate was used to stain the wood. The red and
blue stains could not be identified.6

127
Iskander Breebaart and Paul van Duin

Above:
Figure 22 Tracings of various birds and
insects, from the cabinet in figure 1 and the
table in figure 2.

Under:
Figure 21 Tracings of various tulips, from the
cabinet in figure 1 and the table in figure 2.

128
 The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren

Figure 24

Figure 23-24 Tracings of roses, from

the cabinet in figure 1 and the table
in figure 2.

Figure 23

We used ‘Ultrapfan’ drawing plastic and a Rothring surfaces are repeated, but with differences in quality
pen. Copies were made of the tracings for locating and refinement. The patterns that are used on the
loose pieces as well as for documentation. Copies front of the cabinet are much more elaborate than
of the tracings were also used to cut out every sin- on the less conspicuous surfaces, like the sides and
gle flower, bird and insect. Arranging identical and the lower parts. There is even a difference in refine-
similar flowers into groups and placing them next ment between the front and the other sides of the
to each other enabled us to discover even very small legs. This elaboration is achieved by making more
differences in the cutting-patterns (Figures 21-24). saw cuts to create veins, finer leafs or curls in the
leafs. The differences can be explained by a crafts-
Many interesting questions can be addressed: man using the same design to reproduce multiple
flowers and interpreting the design quite freely,
- To what extent are the flower patterns duplic-
making more elaborate flowers for the more promi-
ated?
nent parts of furniture. Some of the flowers are ap-
- What is the explanation for the differences in plied in mirror image, to create more diversity (Fig-
refinement of the flowers? ure 23).
- To which extent were identical flowers produced We found 15 pairs of truly identical flowers, un-
by cutting two or more layers of veneer at the doubtedly produced by cutting out more layers of
same time? veneer at the same time. In this way two or more
- How similar are the designs of the flowers on identical flowers are produced simultaneously and
other pieces? efficiently. One identical pair was made of two dif-
ferent veneers. After cutting out the design, compo-
At first sight it seems that the flowers on the stand nents were interchanged to create exact counter-
are quite different from the flowers on the doors parts.
and the sides. This is not the case, the tracings of the
flowers clearly show that many of the flowers on all

129
Iskander Breebaart and Paul van Duin

Figure 25 Cabinet with floral marquetry. Oak, veneered with kingwood, Figure 26 Cabinet with floral marquetry (after conservation). Oak, ve-
ebony, rosewood, olive-wood, holly, boxwood, barberry, sycamore and neered with walnut, rosewood, kingwood, olive-wood, holly, boxwood,
other woods, h. 206 cm, w. 173,5 cm, d. 61 cm. Amsterdam, ca. 1695- sycamore and other woods, bone, h. 202,5 cm, w. 181,5 cm, d. 62 cm.
1700, attributed to Jan van Mekeren. Amerongen Castle Foundation, Amsterdam, ca. 1695-1700, attributed to Philips van Santwijck. Rijksmu-
0237.1. seum, BK-1954-5.

It was striking to find that many of the flowers of the as it describes that pre-manufactured marquetry
cabinet are repeated on the table: flowers were kept in a box in the former workshop.7
In his composition of the marquetry on his furni-
- On the cabinet are ca 550 flowers;
ture most of the flowers, including the flower stems
- On the table are 126 flowers; and leafs, are executed in a very naturalistic manner
- Of the 676 flowers on both cabinet and table, 157 (Figure 24). Many of the flower stems on the doors
flowers are repeated more than once; of the cabinet also appear on the top of the table.
They are of the same design, with small differences
- Some of the flowers are repeated 4 or 5 times on in cutting and position.
the same piece, on different surfaces;
- About 50 flowers are found on the cabinet as
well as on the table.
Comparison with other pieces by
Comparing the compositions on the doors and table
top with still-life paintings and ornament drawings Van Mekeren
did not result in finding a true match. Our findings, To broaden our research into the manufacture of the
that many flowers appear more than once and also Van Mekeren marquetry the Rijksmuseum furniture
that the same pattern was used for cutting elabo- conservation department investigated other pieces
rate as well as simple flowers, suggest that the bou- attributed to him, such as the cabinets, tables and
quets were arranged quite freely by Van Mekeren queridons in Amerongen Castle near Utrecht (Fig-
out of a stock of pre-cut flowers, instead of follow- ure 25). The construction as well as the marque-
ing a complete design for a bouquet. The inventory try of the two cabinets, two tables and two candle
drawn up after Van Mekeren’s death confirms this stands is clearly by the same hand as the furniture

130
 The Conservation of a late 17th Century Floral Marquetry Cabinet attributed to Jan van Mekeren

Figure 28 Tracings of daffodils, from the table in figure 2 and the cabinet
in figure 26.

Figure 27 Left door of the cabinet in figure 26. Figure 29 Tracings of tulips, from the table in figure 2 and the cabinet
in figure 26.

in the Rijksmuseum. Some 10 other pieces of furni- some of the individual flowers on the doors had a
ture, mostly in private collections, were investigated striking similarity with those on the Van Mekeren
as well. A cabinet which the Metropolitan Museum cabinet. Some flowers bear a great resemblance to
acquired in 1995 through mediation of the Rijksmu- those of Van Mekeren, not only the outlines, but also
seum, was conserved and investigated by their fur- the saw-cuts for creating leafs and veins (Figures
niture conservator Marijn Manuels. The exchange of 28-29).
drawings and information about the cabinets was This discovery makes the relationship with other
very beneficial to the research.8 contemporary marquetry furniture even more in-
teresting. How can it be explained that the flower
designs used on the Van Mekeren furniture are not
Marquetry attributed to Van Santwijck exclusive? Did cabinetmakers have access to the
As part of the marquetry conservation program of same designs, did marquetry cutters work for vari-
the Rijksmuseum, another cabinet in the collection ous cabinetmakers, was there a trade in ready-made
of the Rijksmuseum was treated immediately after marquetry flowers? Undoubtedly the seventeenth-
the completion of the conservation of the Van Me- century cabinetmakers were in contact with each
keren furniture (Figures 26-27).9 This cabinet has other, just like the conservators nowadays when
been attributed to Philips van Santwijck, a cabinet- they exchange information at conferences like the
maker from The Hague.10 At first sight the marque- Marquetry Symposium in Vadstena.
try design does not seem related to the Van Mekeren
pieces and also the construction is clearly different
in many aspects. Further examination of the mar-
quetry tracings of this cabinet proved very interest-
ing. Despite the different design of the marquetry,

131
Iskander Breebaart and Paul van Duin

Notes
We are grateful to Dominique van Loosdrecht who 10
Lunsingh Scheurleer, Th.H. (1955) Een Hollands
participated in this project, identified the wood spe- kabinet versierd met ‘blomwerk’. In: Bulletin van het
cies and transcribed the Van Mekeren inventory. Rijksmuseum 3, pp. 85-90.

1
Baarsen, R. (2007) Furniture in Holland’s Golden Tracings and drawings are made by Iskander
Age. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, pp. 186-193. Breebaart. The drawings are made with Google
Turpin, A. (2003) Floral Marquetry in late seven- SketchUp 7 (2010).
teenth-century England and Holland. In: Leids Kun-
sthistorisch Jaarboek 13, pp. 207-230.

2
Lunsingh Scheurleer, Th.H. (1941) Jan van Mek-
eren, een Amsterdamsche meubelmaker uit het ein-
de der 17e en begin der 18e eeuw. In: Oud Holland
58, pp. 178-188.

3
Lunsingh Scheurleer, Th.H. op. cit. (note 7).
Wichers Hoeth, A.W. (1942) Jan van Mekeren’s ges-
ticht ‘De Eendracht’. In: Jaarboek Amstelodamum 39,
p. 109-129.

4
van Duin, P.H.J.C. (1993) Het Gole kabinet. Con-
structie, conservering en restauratie, In: Bulletin van
het Rijksmuseum 41, pp. 96-123.
van Duin, P.H.J.C. (1993) The progress of the con-
servation of the Pierre Gole cabinet. In: Proceedings
of the Wood and Furniture Symposium, October 22,
1992, Amsterdam, pp. 9-21.

5
van Loosdrecht, D.B.L.M. (2000) Houtdeterminatie
in een meubelrestauratieatelier. In: Vierde Nationale
Symposium Hout- en Meubelrestauratie, October 12, Iskander Breebaart
1999, Amsterdam, pp. 47-60.
Senior Furniture Conservator
6
Research carried out by Instituut Collectie Neder-
land, project 99-079. Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
7
Gemeente Archief Amsterdam, NA 8830, no. 817.
Tel. +31 (0) 20 674 72 39
8
Manuels, M. (2001) Technology and Attribution:
E-mail: [email protected]
Defining the oeuvre of a Dutch Cabinetmaker. In: Met
Objectives. Treatment and research notes, 2, pp. 1-3.

9
Breebaart, I.L. (in press) A structural approach to a Paul van Duin
complex conservation of two late 17th-century cab- Head of Furniture Conservation
inets-on-stand in the collection of the Rijksmuseum
in Amsterdam. In: Restoring Joints, Conserving Con-
structions, 10th International Symposium on Wood Rijksmuseum
and Furniture Conservation, 2012, Amsterdam, The Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Netherlands, Stichting Ebenist.
Tel. +31 (0) 20 674 71 05
E-mail: [email protected]

132
 From High Wycombe to Iran

From High Wycombe to Iran

– The Tale of a three legged Table

Paul Tear
Research by Alan Jones

Abstract Introduction
Having identified the materials used and carried out Oriental Arms and Armour and related objects have
a literature review to get an understanding of the become very collectable over the last 10-15 years,
manufacturing processes, a small section of marque- this has meant that the prices have risen to such
try was produced, but it took a very long time. It was an extent that objects that were once not worth re-
felt that the only way to learn how to produce the storing are now becoming very collectable. This ar-
marquetry in a reasonable time frame was to visit ticle will recount the work of Alan Jones an under-
Esfahan in Iran, a recognized centre of Khatam mar- graduate student from what was Buckinghamshire
quetry manufacture. Alan contacted the Art Univer- Chiltern University College (BCUC), but which is
sity of Esfahan and made contact with Dr Ghanbari, now ‘Bucks New University’ (BNU) who undertook
who agreed to accept Alan into his workshop. After an investigation into the techniques used to repro-
a month in Dr Ghanbari’s workshop, Alan returned duce the fine Micromosaic marquetry found on a
to High Wycombe and produced a number of small small three legged table from Iran, which was in
sections of marquetry that could be used to restore need of substantial restoration.
the table in less time than it took before his visit. Following an examination of the table with Nigel
This article will describe the English approach to Bamforth, Senior Furniture Conservator at the Vic-
producing a section of Khatam marquetry, followed toria and Albert Museum’s Conservation Depart-
by the process as demonstrated by Dr Ghanbari. ment, it was decided that the table was most likely
made in Iran. A literature review was then under-
taken to find out if the techniques for the produc-
tion of micromisaic marquetry were described in
English. The most detailed source was found to be
‘Traditional Crafts of Persia’, by H E Wulff.1
The various materials found in the marquetry on
the table in question were assembled and then in-
terpreted as closely as possible, the steps that were
clearly described by Wulff were followed in an at-
tempt to produce the geometric patterns similar to
those found on the small round table at the college.

133
Paul Tear

Figure 2

Figure 1 Tri-Pod table with round top, dated 1830. Substrate: poplar
and oak, hight: 764 mm, diameter of top: 750 mm. Decoration:
Micromosaik.

Figure 2 A round table top consisting of 3 narrow bands of marquetry,

followed by one wide, then two narrow bands of marquetry, leading
into a central area of marquetry.
Figure 3 Marquetry containing brass, bone and wood
of different colours. This type of marquetry is referred
to as, ‘Sadeli’ or ‘Bombay Work’, also ‘Khatam
Bandi’.

Figure 4 Small sections of different materials are

shaped into equilateral triangles, then glued together
to form hexagons, pentagons and geometric Islamic
patterns.

134
 From High Wycombe to Iran

The manufacture of micromosaic

marquetry (Khatam) from Iran
On examining the makeup of the micromosaic, it Our interpretation of the manufacture of micromo-
could be seen that it was made up mostly of trian- saic marquetry that was made in High Wycombe was
gular elements of wood, bone and brass. The first painfully slow and there was very little to show for a
process was to shape the material into triangular huge amount of effort, the main problems were:
segments of one mm in width, this was achieved
by cutting accurate triangular grooves into wooden - Preparation of materials from scratch was very
boards, placing square section strips of wood into time consuming.
them and then filing them to shape. - The length of the bone determined the overall
A femur from a cow was purchased from the lo- length of the bundles.
cal butcher, It was boiled and bleached then cut into
- Difficulties to produce large sections of marquetry,
small sections which could then be filed down to one
due to design delaminating when cut into sections.
mm triangular sections.
The jewellery department at the university was
It was felt that the only way to learn how to produce
used to reduce a sheet of brass into square seg-
the marquetry in a reasonable time frame was to
ments. These were then annealed in order to be
visit Esfahan in Iran, a recognized centre of Khatam
pulled through a drawplate, giving them the correct
marquetry manufacture. Alan contacted the Art Uni-
triangular section.
versity of Esfahan who put him in contact with Dr
Wulff makes reference to the local craftsmen in
Ghanbari, who agreed to accept Alan into his work-
Iran gluing and wrapping small bundles of triangu-
shop for a month.
lar sections with thread or string to act as a clamp
when assembling the geometric patterns. At this
stage we were unable to copy this wrapping tech-
nique. Instead, the elements that made up the geo-
metric patterns were glued and clamped between
wooden boards with triangular sides built up onto
them. These sections were then glued together al-
lowing the geometric pattern to be slowly built up
into the design that could be seen decorating the
edge of the table.

135
Paul Tear

Figure 5 Materials & jigs for preparation and making of marquetry.

Figure 6 A cow bone ready for cutting.

Figure 7 Mechanical drawing machine.

Figure 8 Drawing brass wire by hand. Figure 9 A bundle of four elements.

136
 From High Wycombe to Iran

Clamp Pressure

Clamp Pressure

Wood Wood Jig Face

Brass

Bone Jig Face

Figure10 Clamping jig. Figure11 A clamping jig used to assemble four or five elements
together into a section.

Once in Esfahan, the cultural capital of Iran, the prepared and allowed to dry, then the two sections
workshop of Dr. Ghanbari was located, he agreed to were glued together, then four, etc until the design
demonstrate the craft of making micromosaic mar- was complete. Final assembly of the design took
quetry, or ‘Khatam’ as it is referred to in the language place in a specially designed gluing box, then it was
of Farsi. Dr. Ghanbari not only gave his time and cut into 100mm lengths ready to have the top and
knowledge, but he also invited Alan to share meals bottom veneer added.
with his family. He agreed to explain the techniques The appropriate coloured veneer was prepared
involved in making one of the geometric patterns and glued onto the top and bottom of the design, it
that was on the edge of the table, the plan being to was then placed in a special clamp and heated to in-
then put these techniques into practice to reproduce crease the setting time of the glue.
the other patterns on the small round table upon re- When dry, thin strips were cut off using a band saw,
turning to High Wycombe. providing the finished sections ready to be glued to
The first step was again to gather the materials the table.
needed to produce the marquetry, most of these The strips of marquetry were small in section and
were readily available, already prepared into the therefore did not need backing with either paper or
correct section and 500mm in length, much longer thin wood. On larger sections of marquetry you will
than the material used in England. The remaining find the design is glued to a thin wooden support to
elements were roughly cut with a small saw then hold the small elements together during storage and
finished off with a file, the bone that was used came transportation. This can sometimes give the restor-
from the ribs of a camel being longer and more flex- er an added problem. What seems to happen is that
ible, making it ideal for Micromosaic marquetry. the marquetry can delaminate from the backing or
The next stage was to start to assembling the tri- the backing can delaminate from the carcase. So you
angular elements into the appropriate design using need to make sure where the delamination is taking
a PVA glue and fine twine. Several sections were place when working on this type of marquetry.

137
Paul Tear

Figure12 Section of assembled marquetry.

Above, left:
Figure13 First attempt at cutting sections.

Above, right:
Figure14 The final cutting solution.

Above:
Figure15 Damage prepered to inlay new marquetry.

Right:
Figure16 Small section of marquetry made in
Wycombe.

138
 From High Wycombe to Iran

Figure17 Dr. Ghanbari in his workshop.

Figure18 Alan Jones gluing elements together.

Figure19 Assembling the design.

Figure 20 Cutting the design into sections.

139
Paul Tear

Figure 22 Designs held together with cotton thread.

Figure 21 Filling the missing elements on the edges. Figure 23 PVA glue being used to glue design together.

Figure 24 Top veneers being applied. Figure 25 Strips of marquetry being cut off.

140
 From High Wycombe to Iran

Figure 26 Finished strips of marquetry. Figure 27 Larger sections of marquetry are backed on wood.

Conclusion Notes
Being shown the correct techniques to produce the 1
Wulff, H. E. (1966) Traditional crafts of Persia.
marquetry by Dr. Ghanbary gave the following in- Cambridge: MIT Press.
sigths:
2
In Wycombe we used a protein base glue to stick
- Materials readily available cut into the proper sec- the elements together, but when the finished section
tions are relatively cheap compared to the time it of marquetry was cut off it delaminated due to the
takes to cut the small sections of material. friction heat from the band saw softening the glue.
- The techniques for gluing the elements together
using twine and assembling the design in the cor-
rect sequence is crucial for the success.
- Using a modern glue to stick the elements toget-
her proved to be an adequate alternative.2

Upon graduating from BCUC, Alan Jones entered a

holy order and is now training to become a monk, Paul Tear
but I feel the ground breaking research that Alan
Course leader, FDA/BA (Hons) Furniture:
carried out needs to be disseminated to a larger au-
dience. Conservation, Restoration & Decorative Arts

Bucks New University

High Wycombe, U.K.

Tel. +44 (0) 14 94 52 21 41

E-mail: [email protected]

141
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Flowers from Holland

– Antique Dutch Furniture with later added Marquetry from the late
19th and early 20th Centuries

Jaap Boonstra
Maarten van Bommel
Pol Bruys

Introduction The popularity of Dutch marquetry

This paper deals with the trend in the late 19th and It is important to study the contemporary views and
early 20th-century to re-decorate antique Dutch fur- definitions of antique furniture, more in particular
niture with marquetry inlays. As Christopher Payne Dutch marquetry from the 17th century, in order to
writes: ‘The period from 1880 to 1900 is that in understand the origins of its popularity and the re-
which a vast number of good plain Dutch pieces of sult the 19th century copyists were trying to attain.
the period 1690-1760 were inlaid. Even plain Em- The antiquarian movement that emerged in the
pire and Biedermeier pieces were not exempt from early 19th century throughout Europe started col-
the expressive marqueteurs. […] The great revival lecting antiques and these collections often became
for marquetry which seemed to dominate Holland an integral part of the interior. This was dubbed a
at the end of the nineteenth century was a nostalgic ‘romantic interior’ by the author Clive Wainwright
revival that many European countries developed at when he described acquisitions of Dutch 17th cen-
the same time. In Holland there was a revival of all tury marquetry by British collectors such as George
things Dutch and in a logical joining together of ide- Hammond Lucy who bought a Van Mekeren cabinet
as the best features of earlier Dutch furniture were for Charlecote Park, Warwickshire in 1837.
amalgamated into a style that is commonly seen Collectors like Lucy would typically obtain their
in shops and salerooms throughout the furniture furniture at auctions, preferably of private collec-
world. Vast quantities were exported to America, tions to be assured of a good pedigree. If this wasn’t
England and other European countries.’1 possible dealers, cabinetmakers, brokers or ‘nick-
Although they are nowadays recognised by experts nacketarians’, as they were sometimes called, would
for what they really are, antique pieces of furniture provide them with such furniture.3
that were embellished at a later date, more often Research by Reinier Baarsen indicates that the
than not they will be labelled with the comfort- Dutch marquetry tables and cabinets amongst these
ably ambiguous term a ‘Dutch marquetry’ – piece.2 early British collections are sometimes composed
Whether intentionally done or not, by evading the of pieces of different origin.4 Similarly, two tables
issue of authenticity this hardly promotes the study at the Royal Dutch Household that are mentioned
of Dutch furniture. in inventories of 1864 and 1885 as ‘antique inlaid’
We therefore want to identify and describe what and ‘with Old-Dutch inlay-work’ are identified by
sets apart these secondary marquetry inlays and van Voorst tot Voorst as pastiches; newly composed
how one can distinguish them from original 17th pieces of furniture made up from older elements.5
and 18th century work.

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 Flowers from Holland

Figure 1 Marquetry flowers, c. 1915 (Miner Collection, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam).

The marquetry cutters

Not only in England and the Netherlands did the Published research on wood species, stylistic details
craze for Dutch marquetry exist; recently another and furniture making techniques proper to period
example of old Anglo-Dutch marquetry originating furniture was virtually non-existent in the Nether-
from a table and re-used to make up a chest of draw- lands of the late 19th century. There was no readily
ers was discovered at Ulriksdals Slott, Stockholm. available information on documented collections.
This alteration is assumed to have taken place in the There were few accessible museums. Formal edu-
19th century when it was acquired for King Carl XV cation of craftsmen was largely limited to theory,
(1826-1872).6 for instance drawing classes that concentrated on
The historicism that characterizes design from sketching plaster casts and prints.9
the 1850’s onwards demanded heavily ornamented Commissions and instructions from antique deal-
furniture. Van Voorst tot Voorst, the most compre- ers must have been the prerequisite10. Cabinetmak-
hensive author on 19th century Dutch furniture, ing skills and orally transmitted workshop tradition
describes how decoration, not so much propor- were performed by professionals that would prob-
tions and design, was the key factor in determin- ably present themselves as joiners, cabinetmakers
ing style. One didn’t just slavishly copy the historic or ‘inleggers’, inlayers.11
example but tended to improve it in the richness of So far two firms involved in inlaying have been
decoration, to the extent that even actual antiques identified. Both the firm of Meijer in Voorburg near
were ‘dressed up’ with extra inlays and carved orna- The Hague12 and that of Johannes Lodewijk Miner
ments.7 established in Amsterdam were active in the first
These were some of the circumstances that stim- decades of the 20th century.
ulated the production of marquetry furniture that Especially J. L. Miner is of interest to us, as part of
would start in several cabinetmakers’ workshops his marquetry production has been handed down
in the Netherlands, as compositions of old furni- through the firm of J.G. Eilers and is now study mate-
ture with secondary new inlays. Soon these prolific rial in the conservation studios of the Rijksmuseum
marquetry cutters didn’t stop at this and would also Amsterdam, the University of Amsterdam and the
start producing pieces newly made throughout.8 Amsterdams Historisch Museum.13
The Miner collection comprises hundreds of loose
marquetry elements and compositions depicting
flowers, leaves, garlands & swags, baskets & vases,
birds & butterflies, human figures and trophies.

143
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Left:
Figure 2 Long case clock
by Jacobus Vliet, Rotterdam
c. 1750, with later inlays.
(Private collection. Photo:
M. Spaander, Zutphen).

Right:
Figure 3 Long case clock,
c. 1750 (Private collection).

Above:
Figure 4 Marquetry parrots,
c. 1915, (Miner Collection,
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam).

Under:
Figure 5 Marquetry swags,
c. 1915, (Miner Collection,
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam).

144
 Flowers from Holland

Figure 6 Marquetry vase, c. 1915 (Miner Collection, Rijks-

museum Amsterdam).

Right:
Figure 7 Contemporary photo from the Miner collection of a
piece of furniture which probably began as a chest of draw-
ers without any marquetry and then was extended in height
and width to create a display cabinet as well as being inlaid
with marquetry. (Collection Amsterdam Historical Museum).

Characteristics of inlays
The condition of the material varies as some com- As with most fakes and forgeries, the people in-
positions are extremely fragile and vulnerable when volved overdid it and their tastes were influenced
exposed to physical stress. Due to age and negli- by their surroundings and times. These two aspects
gence, soiling and oxidation processes have taken betray them today.
their toll. Still, apart from its losses, the material is In order to be a real marquetry piece in the forger’s
largely ready to be inlaid and when it was stored it eyes, there had to be lots of it; the furniture should
was obviously meant for later use. Incomplete un- be covered with it, inside and out. This would be the
finished designs form only a minor part of the whole aspect of overdoing it.
collection. In addition some much used tracings on The overall effect that was most probably sought
paper have been preserved that allow an insight on after, was an aged look. The colours should therefore
the working method of copying designs, probably by be subdued and faded. So lots of natural coloured,
using carbon paper. yellowish light brown mellow tones are seen in this
The size and variety of the collection gave us an relatively new marquetry. The brightly coloured,
unique chance to compare unused prefabricated stained elements tend to be much smaller in num-
marquetry elements with the secondary inlaid mo- ber and hardly ever add up to a naturalistic compo-
tives found in antique furniture. A valuable refer- sition. (The coloured elements that are used seem
ence collection it may be, some caution is appro- often quite haphazardly strewn in the total picture.)
priate in interpreting its example. It is not actually The other aspect, the surprisingly clumsy and
inlaid – there is no furniture found as yet with inlays sometimes quite oddly anachronistic look of this
that can be attributed with certainty to J.L. Miner. As marquetry should perhaps be seen in the light of
it is dating from the first three decades of 20th cen- the fairly recent development of the antique fur-
tury14 and probably just one man’s production this niture trade at the end of the 19th century. Access
obviously also limits the scope. to antiques was limited to the newly founded mu-
seums, antique dealer’s shops, auctions, and some
catalogued collections. In comparison to today’s
situation, the material one could draw from was ex-
tremely limited. This would explain for a lot of the
quaint fantasy decorations the marquetry cutters
were forced to come up with, for sheer lack of mate-
rial to copy.

145
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Figure 8 Two door cabinet c. 1700, with later inlays of mar- Figure 9 Two door cabinet, late 17th century (Private collection).
quetry and ceramics (Inv. nr. L 745 Collection Paleis Het Loo
Nationaal Museum, The Netherlands).

Technique of marquetry cutting

The individual marquetry elements were generally ness, a result of mechanized sawing or slicing of
sawn out with a mechanical marquetry saw at a veneer sheets, is an important characteristic to go
perpendicular sawing angle. Up to 10-12 sheets of by.16 However it shouldn’t be mistaken for veneers
veneer of less than 1 mm. thickness were stacked to- thinned down by repeated scraping and sanding..
gether, temporarily held by a thin glue film or pins. The newspaper separation layers can give impor-
On the top sheet of the stack a pattern in the form of tant clues as to the date and origins of the marque-
a line drawing on paper was glued, the other sheets try. The glueing together of stacks of veneer gave
were interspaced with newspaper for ease of sepa- extra support to the thin sheets during the sawing
ration after sawing. process.
This method would produce a whole series of The marquetry inlays are mostly secondary, which
identical motives with fairly wide saw kerfs. means they are incrusted in the already glued down
By incorporating differently coloured sheets of ve- ground veneer. The outline of the inlay was traced
neer in the sandwich one could achieve some varia- on the ground veneer with a knife or chisel and that
tions in the design by interchanging elements from form subsequently gouged out in order to fit the in-
various layers after splitting up the stack. Another lay flush with the adjacent veneer. A variation is the
frequently used technique for adding tone and depth insertion of inlays in solid wood, which happened
to the design was shading the individual elements in mostly on chairs.
hot sand. More seldom one comes across marquetry which
The technique described implies much laborious has been cut into a ground veneer with a saw. This of
puzzling together of the loose elements to compose course implies that the inlay and ground veneer are
a complete design that can be handled and inlaid, of the same date.
held together only by narrow glue lines at the edges
of the veneer elements!15
The identical motives produced are reflected in
decoration schemes – a lot of mirror imaging and
sheer repetition is found. The average veneer thick-

146
 Flowers from Holland

Figure 10 Detail of proper left side of two door cabinet shows the rather crude marquetry. (Inv. nr. L 745 Collection
Paleis Het Loo Nationaal Museum, The Netherlands).

Marquetry patterns
The patterns used for the later marquetry inlays crudely incrusted without a tight fit between inlay
seem to follow the example of folk art (for instance and ground. It may also happen that motives of com-
paper clippings). On first impression largely sym- pletely different origin and style are combined in
metrical and repetitive motives are used for panels one picture.
that often form swags and branches that seem to Some of the later imitations though, reach a re-
grow from central trunks or are collected in a cen- markable similarity to the marquetry in late 17th
trally positioned vase or basket. Such a vase or bas- century Anglo-Dutch clock cases. The same crowd-
ket will be ‘resting’ on some sort of support formed ed appearance of figures and intertwined swags. In
by acanthus leaf scrolls or a console. Narrow edges these instances the give-away might be in the incon-
will be inlaid with single curvilinear branches. The gruity of marquetry inspired by the late 17th centu-
attempt to fill all vacant spaces with decorations ry example applied on 18th century cases. (Authen-
has a definite aspect of ‘horror-vacuï’. By nature al- tic marquetry in mid 18th century clock cases will
ready flat, through their primitivism and their re- be rather sparse; limited to a few flowers in a small
petitive forms and standardization the designs are vase or tied up with a ribbon, the forms of trunk-
often lacking in depth and perspective. Overlap- door and base elegantly accentuated by a narrow
ping of various forms, which would have added to lining. And significantly; all these various marquetry
a realistic effect, is seldom observed, as this would shapes were then used only once.)
of course mean additional effort for the time and Finally, a less obvious aspect characterizes these
labour of conscious worker. The individual wood secondarily applied marquetry-patterns; the furni-
elements, which constitute the marquetry, may be ture can do without. There will necessarily always
of rather large dimensions of quickly cut rounded be scores of un-decorated, unaltered counterparts of
forms when compared to the more diminutive 18th the marquetry furniture of the same basic type and
and 17th century originals. This of course again ef- ground veneers that survive perfectly happy with-
fectively speeded up the production. Another thing out inlay. The comparison can often be quite telling.
to look for is low quality workmanship of various
forms, for instance not fully cut out shapes that are

147
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Figure 11 Detail of the trunk door of the long case clock Figure 12 Reverse of secondary marquetry inlay, removed from table
by Jacobus Vliet, Rotterdam c. 1750. The secondary top, (Private collection).
marquetry fills up all vacant areas and the marquetry
cutter also introduced iconographical novelties such as
a parrot. Photo: M. Spaander, Zutphen).

Individual figures
Some figures are typical for the later applied mar- the risk of cutting through and losing the colour. In
quetry elements, such as; helmed deities, parrots, material thus prepared one will find an even stain-
seashells, heraldic figures, national emblems. These ing all over the individual marquetry pieces and not
may appear anachronistic in 17th and 18th century the accumulation and deepening of colour along the
Dutch furniture. edges one expects to see in individually stained piec-
es of genuine early marquetry.
At the end of the 19th century synthetic dyes were
developed and from the 1870’s onwards they found
Colours increasingly application in the wood trade.18 Analy-
The colour range of the inlays is mostly defined by ses of pieces from the early 20th century have con-
various tones of light yellowish brown of the natu- firmed this trend (see below). These colours could
ral wood. The edges of individual elements are often be easily purchased, were ready to use and pro-
picked out or accentuated by shading done by dip- duced – at least initially – brilliant colours. Aniline
ping the veneer in hot sand. dyes were mostly used, often in combination with
In addition some pieces may be artificially stained, metal salts, either mixed together or as separate
but this can be hard to recognize since most stains stain solutions. Although these modern dyes had the
tend to fade. The reverse of pieces that are taken out advantage of instantly producing colour and giving
during conservation may still show the primary col- reproducible results, wood still remained a difficult
ours that were used: green, red, yellow and blue. material to fully penetrate with a stain. To improve
A typical characteristic of staining in this period the penetration veneers could be immersed in hot
is that whole sheets of mechanically sawn or sliced dye-baths.19
veneers of less than 1 mm thickness were stained, The detailing of veins and fine lines is mostly ex-
before cutting them up in patterns. A deep stain pen- ecuted by saw cuts, while sketch-like engraving is
etration of these thin sheets was generally easier to not so common. This constitutes another important
obtain.17 Full penetration is an obvious advantage if difference from true 18th century marquetry.
one has to scrape or sand the marquetry; it limits

148
 Flowers from Holland

Figure 13 Detail of side of long case clock by

Jacobus Vliet, Rotterdam c. 1750, showing
later inlays encrusted in the walnut groundve-
neer (Private collection. Photo: M. Spaander,
Zutphen).

Wood species
The light coloured wood species that were mostly The original ground veneer can also be replaced
used for marquetry inlays can be hard to identify. with more modern varieties like thinly sliced walnut
Species like maple, horse chestnut, boxwood, horn- instead of sawn walnut veneer or African instead of
beam and holly are very similar in appearance, South American mahogany. In these cases one has to
and applied as small marquetry elements they can be aware of the possibility that the marquetry has
be impossible to tell apart on a macroscopic level. been fitted in the ground veneer by fret sawing, be-
The same accounts for cherry, satinwood and avodi- fore gluing.
ré; another group of species that seem to have been
used. Generally the variation in choice of woods of
strong colours is less than in the authentic speci-
men of 17th century marquetry. Positive microscop-
ic identifications have been made so far of maple,
horse chestnut and avodiré.20

Ground veneer
The veneer that forms the background for the later
inlays is most often of walnut and mahogany, less
frequently rosewood. The walnut veneers on 17th
century and 18th century furniture can be lively fig-
ured dark veined or burr veneers. They will be hand
sawn, as a rule of 1 mm thickness or more. The usu-
ally darker colour contrasts with the light coloured
inlays.

149
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Figure 14 Screen, c. 1890’s. (Inv. nr. L 673, Collection Paleis Het Loo Nationaal Museum, The Nether-
lands, Photo: C. Desmet).

Figure 15 The front of an interior drawer from the bureau display case with sample location. (Photo: C. Desmet).

150
 Flowers from Holland

Scientific analysis as a tool for

identification
A helpful tool ascertaining whether inlays are au- samples. This can be done directly on the surface of a
thentic or possibly secondary can be stain analysis. sample, or cross-sections can be made to determine
When modern, early synthetic dyes are present in the penetration depth of the element into the wood.
the marquetry, this may be an indication of its age. In such case, it can be distinguished whether the in-
As part of this project a selection of stained and un- organic components originate from the wood (i.e.
stained samples were analysed by M. van Bommel, present all over the sample) or from the stain (i.e.
I. Joosten, L. Megens and H. Neevel of the Cultural top layer). In general, SEM-EDS has a detection limit
Heritage Agency of the Netherlands for using HPLC, of 0.1 weight %, which sometimes is not enough for
SEM-EDS, XRF and FORS. identification. The technique is more laborious then
Although a complete description of the techniques XRF, but localisation of the components present is
used is beyond the scope of this paper, we will give an advantage of this technique.
a brief description and state the advantages and dis- High Performance Liquid Chromatography cou-
advantages of these techniques. XRF and FORS are pled to Photo Diode Array detection (HPLC-PDA)
both portable and non-destructive techniques; the is a very sensitive tool for the identification of or-
first was used to determine inorganic elements di- ganic colorants. After sample pre-treatment with
rectly on the furniture. XRF, X-ray fluorescence spec- hydrochloric acid, organic colorants are separated
trometry, can be used to analyse inorganic stains, but from each other by HPLC and then UV-VIS spectra
also to identify other inorganic components used are recorded. By comparison of both retention time
for the production process or salts used as an agent and spectra with those of known reference materi-
in the staining process. It is a very quick and non- als, the organic colorants can be identified. The main
destructive technique; the disadvantage however, is disadvantage of HPLC-PDA is the fact that small
the low sensitivity and the difficulty to determine samples are needed for destructive analysis. In ad-
which elements originate from the wood and which dition, the technique is more time consuming than
from the production process. Analysing untreated XRF and FORS. The HPLC procedures used are de-
wood as a reference or ‘blank’ is therefore crucial. scribed elsewhere.21
Fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) was Our approach was to start with the non-destruc-
used to record reflectance spectra ranging from UV/ tive techniques XRF and FORS, to compare differ-
VIS up to near Infrared. The absorption behavior of a ent areas of furniture which are of interest. As these
colorant in the UV, the visual and in the near infrared techniques are quite fast, many areas can be scanned
is dependent on the chemical structure of the com- prior to sampling. The selection of the sample loca-
ponent. In principle it can be used for identification. tion is done, based on the results of both XRF and
However, as not only the colorant shows reflectance, FORS. After sampling, SEM-EDS can be done to de-
but also the wood itself, identification can only be termine the inorganic components and HPLC-PDA
possible if reconstructions of reference materials to identify the organic colorants.
on various wood species are available. Also degra- The first selection was taken from the Miner-
dation of both the colorant and the wood can affect marquetry, a second batch of samples was obtained
the reflectance. Although some colorants have such from actual furniture assumed to be inlaid in the late
specific reflectance behavior that they can be iden- 19th century. A cylinder bureau with display cabinet
tified on that basis, the number of reconstructions on top (L 767) and a screen (L 673) both from the
needed for reference would be enormous. It seems collection of Koninklijk Paleis Het Loo Nationaal Mu-
an impossible route to use this system for identifica- seum were selected.22
tion purposes. The technique can be used however,
to compare colored parts of furniture to determine
if different stains are used. As it is portable, fast and
non-destructive, the technique can be used as a sam-
ple selection tool to minimize the number of sam-
ples necessary for further identification.
A scanning electron microscope combined with
energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS)
was used for determining the inorganic elements in

151
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Results of the analytical techniques

XRF and SEM-EDS analysis revealed the presence of all over the furniture as in that case the contribu-
many inorganic components, mainly calcium, sul- tion of the varnish to the spectrum will be the same
phur and iron and as minor components aluminium, for all samples. In principle, this contribution can be
silicon, potassium and lead as is shown in table 1. In subtracted to obtain a clearer result. However, the
quite a few samples from the Miner-collection zinc presence of a varnish can be misleading. In two sam-
was found as well. With the use of SEM-EDS, sodium ples, L767-2 and L767-4, a greenish/yellow stain
and chloride were detected as well. With SEM-EDS was expected to be present. On observation of the
analysis it was observed that many particles were back of the inlays, no stain was found at all and the
present, whose elemental composition indicates the yellow colour on the front probably had to do with
presence of dust (sand, clay, gypsum). In particle- the varnish. Obviously, if the colour of the varnish is
free areas calcium, iron, sulphur, sodium and chlo- dark or is quite similar to the stain expected, FORS
ride were usually detected. Analysis of unstained can not be used for sample selection, unless the in-
reference wood samples of the same species yielded lays are removed and monitored at the unvarnished
generally the same components, but in significant areas.
lower amounts. So the presence of these elements An example of the possibilities of FORS is given in
is probably related to the use of stains. However, the graph 2. In the Miner-collection as well as in the bu-
compositions of the elements found in the stained reau display case interior a range of green, green-
wood are all very similar; with a few exceptions no blue and blue colours were found. The blue colours
differences in composition nor concentration was were easy to distinguish from the green and the
found in wood stained with different colours. So, it greenish-blue. But the last two colours were more
is likely that the stained areas were all treated in a difficult to differentiate. As can been seen in graph 2,
similar way, prior, after or during application of the the green and green-blue colours showed very simi-
colorant, independent of the colour one tried to at- lar absorption behaviour, indicating that similar col-
tain.23 orants were used which were clearly different from
As a result, the inorganic analysis can not be used those found in the blue areas. This was confirmed
to give information about which stain was used. by HPLC analysis (see below for more information)
However, due to the lack of significant differences by which it was determined that picric acid was pre-
of inorganic components present on the different sent in the green samples, but not in the blue sam-
wood samples, it is likely that organic stains were ples. In the green, the greenish blue and the blue
the decisive factor for producing colour. samples, blue dyes were detected of the triphenyl
FORS was used as an experimental technique, to methane dye class. The blue dyes found in the green
investigate its use as sample selection technique. and greenish blue samples are similar, while in the
Some general observations were made during the blue sample a different blue dye was detected. This
analysis. First of all, it is rather difficult to deter- corresponds with the fact that the FORS results were
mine whether or not a veneer was stained when the similar for the green and greenish blue samples, but
colour observed is yellow or (light) red. As these different for the blue samples.
colours can be very similar to the natural tint of un-
stained wood, perception with FORS is difficult un-
less a very specific stain was used. Results of green
or blue samples were easier to interpret. Obviously,
the top layer, often a varnish, does affect the FORS
measurement as well, see graph 1. We have exam-
ined inlays of the bureau display case both at the
front, with a varnish applied, and at the back of the
inlay which was not varnished. In general, the reflec-
tance is somewhat lower at the front of the sample,
which is explained by the presence of the varnish.
But the main difference can be observed in the area
around 450 nm where reflectance is higher due to
the varnish. However, for sample selection, this is
not that important when the same varnish is applied

152
 Flowers from Holland

Table 1 Results HPLC

Sample code Inorganic compounds Dyestuff Remarks
Main Trace Stain related
Blank analysis of Ca Al, Si, K, Fe -- Mainly yellow and some red These components are related to the
maple (Acer spec.) components, flavonoids and wood
anthraquinones respectively
Flower-1-red S, Ca. Fe Al, K, Fe, Cl S, Fe, Zn, Cl Victoria blue R Reflected light microscopy showed only
(Miner collection) Unknown red synthetic dye (abs.max very superficial staining
513 nm)
Flower-1-white S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Zn, ? No result, probably inorganic pigment
(Miner collection) Na, Cl

Flower-2-green S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Zn, S, Fe, Zn, Pb, Picric acid Concentration picric acid and blue / violet
(Miner collection) Pb, Na Na Traces of basic blue or violet dyes, dyes are approximately equal
probably of tri-phenyl methane dye
class.
Flower-2-yellow S, Ca. Fe Si, K, Zn, Pb, S, Fe, Zn, Pb, Picric acid Picric acid concentration much higher
(Miner collection) Na Na, Cl Traces of basic blue or violet dyes, then in the previous sample, which
probably of tri-phenyl methane dye explains the colour difference
class.
Flower-3-green S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Zn, S, Fe, Zn, Pb, Picric acid Picric acid present in abundance
(Miner collection) Pb, Na, Cl Na, Cl Traces of basic blue or violet dyes, Acer spec. (analysed by transmitted light
probably of tri-phenyl methane dye microscopy )
class.
Flower-4-green S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Zn, S, Fe, Zn, Pb Picric acid Picric acid present in abundance
(Miner collection) Pb Traces of basic blue or violet dyes,
probably of tri-phenyl methane dye
class.
Flower-4-yellow Not analysed No result, probably natural coloured It is sometimes difficult to distinguish
/brown/natural wood. between the natural colour and a stain
(Miner collection)
Flower-5-blue S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Zn, S, Fe, Zn, Pb Unknown basic blue dyes of tri-phenyl Similar components as found in sample
(Miner collection) Pb methane dye class. 11, but different from those found in the
green samples
Reflected light microscopy showed
partial staining; penetration depth of c.
0,1 mm.
Acer spec. (analysed by transmitted light
microscopy )
Flower-6-dark red S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Pb, S, Fe, Pb, Na, Possibly brasilein indicating the use of a
Na, Cl Cl redwood dye

Flower-6-yellow Not analysed No result, probably natural coloured

(Miner collection) wood.
Flower-7-red S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Zn, S, Fe, Zn, Pb No result Acer spec. (analysed by transmitted light
(Miner collection) Pb microscopy )

Flower-8-yellow S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Pb S, Fe, Pb No result, but based on the colour a
(Miner collection) stain was expected
Flower-10-green S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Pb S, Pb No result, but based on the colour a Reflected light microscopy showed
(Miner collection) stain was expected partial staining; penetration depth of c.
0,28 mm.
Flower-11-blue S, Ca. Fe Al, Si, K, Pb S, Fe, Pb Unknown basic blue dyes of tri-phenyl Similar components as found in sample 5,
(Miner collection) methane dye class. but different from those found in the green
samples
Reflected light microscopy showed
partial staining; penetration depth c. 0,18-
0,28 mm.
Bureau display case Ca, Fe Al, Si, S, Pb Ca, Fe Fuchsine Stain related components were present in
interior drawer -1, red a significantly higher amount.
petal
Bureau display case Ca, Fe Al, Si, S, K, Pb -- Not stained at the back Yellow colour probably due to the varnish
interior drawer -2,
greenish/yellow leaf
Bureau display case Ca, Fe Al, Si, S, K, Pb -- Unknown synthetic blue dyes, unknown Sample showed green at the varnished
interior drawer -3, red dye present as well. part, but blue at the back of the sample
green stringing (unvarnished)
Bureau display case Ca, Fe Al, Si, S, K, Pb -- Not stained at the back Yellow colour probably due to the varnish
interior drawer -4,
greenish/yellow leaf
Bureau display case Ca, Fe, Al, Si, S, K, K, -- Unknown synthetic blue dyes, unknown Sample showed green at the varnished
desk -5, green leaf Pb red dye present as well but different part, but blue at the back of the sample
than in sample Cabinet-3 (unvarnished)
Screen-6, yellow scroll Not analysed Flavazine L equivalent
Screen-7, green leaf Not analysed Unknown basic blue dyes of tri-phenyl
methane dye class.

153
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Graph 1

As mentioned before, this part of the research was respectively. The dyestuffs here found could not be
quite experimental. The main aim to determine related to any of the known dyes, this could be due
whether FORS can be used as sample selection tech- to the lack of reference materials analysed so far. In-
nique. The first analytical results suggest that it can, terestingly, in most green samples the concentration
although on certain conditions. First of all, the col- of blue dyes was much lower than the concentration
our of the stain must be clearly different from that of picric acid. It is rather odd that such a low concen-
of the wood. A varnish can hamper analysis when it tration of blue dyes can affect the colour so much.
has a strong colour of its own or when it is unevenly This might be confirmed by preparing reconstruc-
applied on the object. More experiments are needed tions, to calculate the concentration of blue dyestuff
to get a better understanding of the possibilities and needed for a green colour.
limitations of FORS. In the blue samples, blue dyes from the tri-phenyl
The results of the HPLC analysis are given in table methane class were found as well, however, these
1. As yellow stain, picric acid was found in the yel- were different from those found in the green sam-
low and green samples. Picric acid was developed in ples. Another blue dye, Victoria blue R, was found
1771, as a semi-synthetic dye obtained by treating in a red sample from the Miner marquetry together
natural indigo with nitric acid. In 1841, a synthetic with a synthetic red dye which remains unidentified.
route was discovered treating phenol with nitric Victoria blue R was developed in 1892 and is known
acid, other synthetic routes were developed as well as Colour index name basic blue 11. In another red
in the 19th century. The light fastness of picric acid sample from the Miner collection, the natural dye
is not good, but despite of this it was used as col- brasilein was found, indicating the use of a redwood
orant until the early 20th century.24,25 In some sam- dye (Caesalpinia sp.).
ples, which seem to be stained yellow no colorant Samples from the bureau display case and screen
was found. It could be that analysis failed; however, were taken by removing the inlays which allowed
it is more likely that these samples were not stained us to take samples from the back of the veneer. This
at all. In the green samples, picric acid was found to- has the advantage that un-faded areas were sam-
gether with unknown blue or violet dyes from the pled and that the inlays can be mounted back to the
synthetic dye class of tri-phenyl methane dyes. This furniture without disturbing the overall look of the
is an important dye class of green, blue and violet object. In a red sample from the bureau display case,
dyes. Methyl violet and crystal violet are important fuchsine was detected. Fuchsine, basic violet 14 was
dyes of this group, developed in 1861 and 1883 developed in 1856 and is therefore one of the earli-

154
 Flowers from Holland

Graph 2

est synthetic dyes. Fuchsine consists of a mixture of produced after 1856, when the first real synthetic
closely related dyes, presumably different methylat- dye, mauve was developed. Since many of these dye-
ed forms of pararosaniline, the same dye class as the stuffs could not be identified, it is likely that they
blue dyes found. In the two green samples from the originate from the end of the 19th century or early
bureau display case, unknown dyes were detected, 20th century as we are able to identify 85% of the
different from those found in the Miner-collection. dyes used between 1850 and 1900. Analysis of more
A few blue dyestuffs were found, again from the tri- reference materials can improve identification.
phenyl methane dye class and in both samples a red
dye was present as well. No yellow dyestuffs were
detected, it must be noted that the green areas were
actually blue at the back of the inlays where the sam-
ple was taken.
Two areas were selected with a greenish/yellow
colour, however, after removal of the inlay from the
object it was noted that the reverse was not stained.
The yellow colour originates probably from the var-
nish applied; this may also be the explanation for the
green appearance of the samples described above.
In general it can be concluded that the HPLC anal-
ysis used showed quite varied results. Although in
many samples dyestuffs were detected, the response
is in general quite low. This could be due to sample
size, but it is more likely that the extraction yield of
the sample pre-treatment was very low when ap-
plied on wood. The hydrochloric acid extraction
was developed for textiles and paint layers, future
research will be devoted to determine the efficiency
of this extraction for wood samples. With the excep-
tion of the redwood dye, all dyes found were from
synthetic origin. This means that the inlays were

155
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Figure 16 Desk c. 1780’s, armchair (so called ‘barbers-chair’) second quarter 17th century,
both with later marquetry inlays. (Collection Marinemuseum Den Helder, The Netherlands).

The public demand – popularity at

home and abroad
The earliest examples of furniture with secondary J.A. Eilers, a third generation Amsterdam cabinet-
inlays of which the dates of acquisition are docu- maker-furniture restorer describes the turn of the
mented are typically found in highly representative century practice of inlaying plain cabinets with
collections. ‘...flower motives, figures and swags that were made
In the former Royal collections of the Netherlands, of boiled and shaded veneers…’ to produce mar-
now at Museum Paleis Het Loo one thus comes quetry furniture that was hard to distinguish from
across 17th and 18th century furniture with second- real antiques and was exported in large numbers to
ary marquetry dating from 1870-1880.26 Scandinavian countries.32
Similarly in Ulriksdals Slott, the former palace of The author on Dutch longcase clocks J. Zeeman
Carl XV of Sweden there are several examples of on the other hand claims that mainly in England a
these ‘antiques’ which were probably acquired be- market existed for Dutch marquetry furniture in the
tween 1850-1870.27 Exemplary of this fashion, is the early decades of the 20th century. Antique chairs,
presence of exactly the same type of two-door mar- porcelain cupboards and clocks were embellished
quetry cabinet with inset china bowls and plates in to meet that demand.33
the collection of both Het Loo28 and Ulriksdals Slott This is corroborated by the unpublished memoirs
collections29 and in the Hermitage museum, St. Pe- of the antique dealer Jacob Stodel, a member of a
tersburg.30 (Compare figure 8). several generations antique dealers’ family. He de-
From royal circles the fashion has spread amongst scribes the activities of the antique dealers Stodel,
other collectors in various countries such as the well Aandacht and Woudstra in Amsterdam who made
documented Dutch marquetry cabinet of the Hallwyl deliveries of newly inlaid Dutch antique furniture
family that was purchased in 1897 in Switzerland(!) in considerable quantities to the London auctioneer
for their town house in Stockholm.31 Bonham and the dealers F. Berendt and Sales dur-
ing the first decades of the 20th century. Mr. Stodel
sketches a vivid picture of the trade: ‘…Then we

156
 Flowers from Holland

Figure 17 Detail of chair (Collection Marinemuseum Den Helder, The Netherlands).

Questions
still had our own workshop at the Kromboomsloot. Questions remain with furniture that doesn’t quite
Two men were every day at work there restoring. fit the picture sketched above such as furniture with
They French polished and, on a modest scale gave later inlays referring to historic events and/or geo-
antique furniture new marquetry. This was so much graphical situations. Were these perhaps made on
sought after in England around 1900-1910, that all comission?
sorts of workshops in the Jewish quarter had a daily Or furniture with well copied 17th century style
task permanently providing for it. Cupboards, chests marquetry – both technically, materially and stylis-
of drawers, chairs, tables, longcase clocks – every- tically. Meticulously copying individual examples of
thing got marquetry, sometimes with ivory or moth- 17th century marquetry by tracing and subsequently
er of pearl. The finest furniture has been mutilated reproducing them obviously resulted in quite anoth-
this way. er category of fakes. Less far-fetched in their designs
Sometimes one could not obtain sufficient amounts and execution these products can be extremely hard
of antique furniture. Not to worry! One could also to date correctly. The same applies for the fretwork
make new marquetry furniture from scratch! For from 18th century clock cases which is notoriously
the patterns they used examples from books on or- vulnerable and often repaired. Some indication of
naments…’34 this was found in the exact tracings on paper found
Stodel had obviously second thoughts about the in the Miner collection taken from clearly original
trade his father and uncle had been actively involved patterns.
in and he claims to have acted against false dating of
such work at auctions in England. He even published
on the matter to have it correctly described as ‘an-
tique furniture with later marquetry’.35

157
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

Epilogue Notes
Our aim was to illustrate the main aspects that char- 1
Payne, C. (1981)19th Century European Furniture,
acterize the secondary marquetry inlays in antique The Antique Collectors’ Club. Woodbridge, p. 447
Dutch furniture. In doing so we became aware that
the people involved at the time - dealers and crafts- 2
Using these terms for an internet search on the
men – were in a sense forerunners of today’s conser- websites of the main auction houses, one is directed
vators and mirrored in their attitudes and produc- without fail, to pieces dressed up with secondary in-
tion to some extent our professional interests. lay as well as furniture with genuine 17th- and 18th
Obviously writing the history of our profession century marquetry, (the latter category usually be-
by far exceeds the scope of this article, but we feel ing the smaller one).
one cannot fully understand ‘the Dutch marquetry
scam’ without some appreciation of the art market, 3
Wainwright, C. (1989) The Romantic Interior. New
contemporary fashion, ethics and economics. This Haven & London: Yale University Press
leaves challenging opportunities for further re-
search. 4
Baarsen, R. (1988 ) Mix and match marquetry. In:
On a more technical level the analysis of synthetic Country Life, CLXXXII, No. 41, pp. 224-227.
dyes has yielded promising results and has proven The author describes the marquetry cabinet at
itself as a tool for identifying late 19th and early Burghley House, Stamford as an early 19th century
20th century marquetry. assembly of at least one cabinet and a table to com-
pose one massive piece of furniture.

5
Van Voorst tot Voorst, J.M.W. (1992) Tussen Bieder-
meier en Berlage. Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw,
Acknowledgements pp. 464-467.
According to the author these two tables originated
Many thanks are due to all the colleagues that helped
from the rooms 106 en 107 of palace Het Loo and
by providing useful material and comments. Espe-
were described in as ‘antiek ingelegd’ and ‘met Oud-
cially the active participation of L. Megens, I. Joosten
Hollandsch inlegwerk’. (Paleis Het Loo Nationaal
and H. Neevel of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the
Museum: inv. nrs. L 356, 410)
Netherlands and Charles Desmet of the Paleis Mu-
seum het Loo was essential in researching the col- 6
In 1872 it entered the collection of the National
oured parts of the marquetry. The generous way in
Museum, Stockholm. There is no record of exactly
which practically everybody we asked shared infor-
when the king had the piece acquired. (Information
mation with us was most enjoyable.
kindly provided by J. Norrman, curator at the Na-
tional Museum, Stockholm.)

7
Van Voorst tot Voorst J.M.W. (1992) pp. 30-31, 38

8
An example of such a ‘new antique’ was offered
for sale fairly recently as lot nr. 51 at the Sotheby’s
Important Continental Furniture & Tapestries Auc-
tion, London 10 december 2003, when ‘a fine pair
of Dutch gilt-bronze-mounted ivory and mother of
pearl inlaid walnut and marquetry commodes circa
1760’ turned out to be dating from the 19th century
at the earliest. They were withdrawn from the auc-
tion. (We thank Mr. J. Estié, Salomon Stodel Antiq-
uités, for bringing this to our attention.)

9
Van Voorst tot Voorst J.M.W. (1992) pp. 81-100

158
 Flowers from Holland

10
In Amsterdam the firms of Aandacht, E. Delaunoy, 15
In the Miner marquetry collection it was observed
S. Stodel and A.F. Woudstra are said to have been in- that apart from interlocking forms, a thin wash of
volved. (Information received from J. Estié.) glue size seems to hold the separate elements to-
gether.
11
The firm of J.G. Eilers, known to be involved in
furniture restoration from the early decades until 16
New methods of veneer production are men-
the early ‘80’s of the 20th century was mentioned tioned in Michaelsen, H. and Buchholz, R. (2006) pp.
in the Amsterdam address books (‘Amsterdamse 167-168. They describe how the traditional method
Adresboeken’) under the caption cabinetmakers & of producing hand sawn veneers of 1,5-2 mm. thick-
shopkeepers (‘meubelmakers & winkeliers’). Eilers ness was superseded by mechanized processes.
didn’t specifically mention his activity as a restorer Between 1814 and 1834 the French engineer A.
and merely had the term cabinetmaker (‘meubel- Cochot constructed and improved a mechanically
maker’) put behind his name. driven horizontal saw cutting an up to 4 meter long
J.L. Miner, whose stock of marquetry elements forms log drawn up from a pit. Transport of the log was
an important source for this research wasn’t men- linked with the speed of sawing. This resulted in 1
tioned with a profession in the address books at all, mm. thick evenly cut sheets of veneer. From 1830
only his private address was put in. On his business onwards the same technique was applied in Berlin,
card however, he styled himself as ‘inlegger van Germany.
meubelen’ (inlayer of furniture). In the civic regis- Along with mechanical production of sawn veneers,
ters as well, he was called a ‘meubel inlegger’ (fur- one was experimenting with the production of sliced
niture inlayer). veneers. After trials in 1820-1830, the method was
applied on a massive scale from the 1860’s onwards.
12
Zeeman, J. (1996) De Nederlandse staande klok. After a pre-treatment of the log by vapour-pressure,
Zwolle: Waanders, pp. 74-76, 290-292. this method gave a thin (less than 1 mm.), evenly cut
The author identifies an 18th century clockcase by veneer and very little waste.
David van den Boogaard that was ‘improved’ by the See also Ramond, P. (2000) La marqueterie. Dourdan:
Meijer firm in Voorburg, The Netherlands (p. 74-76). Editions H. Vial, p. 76. The author writes that sliced
Other examples of secondary inlays are shown on veneers were first machine-produced at the begin-
pages 290-292. ning of the 19th century in Pont de Claix (Isère)
France. ‘The ‘trancheuse’ was driven by a water-
13
The Miner collection had become part of the stock wheel and it cut the wood cold, without preparatory
of another Amsterdam firm, the three generation steaming or boiling the log. Although some wood
chairmaking, cabinetmaking and furniture resto- species like maple and poplar can be cut this way,
ration firm Eilers which was sold in the 1980s and this didn’t apply to the harder woods. Since these
‘90s. beginnings producing veneered work with sliced ve-
It is only recently attributed to J.L. Miner on the basis neers has strongly developed. After 1865 one sees
of private correspondence, permits, and business the industrialization of the production technique;
cards found scattered through the marquetry ma- machines were designed that produce veneers for
terial. Stylistic and technical analysis and a photo- affordable prices which allowed for a wider applica-
graphical registration established the uniform char- tion.’
acter of the collection and supports the assumption
it is almost entirely one firm’s production. The mate- 17
Michaelsen, H. and Buchholz, R. (2006) Vom Fär-
rial owned by the Amsterdam Historical Museum is ben des Holzes. Holzbeize von der Antike bis in die
registered under the inventory number KA 19263. Gegenwart. St. Petersburg: M. Imhof Verlag, pp. 167-
169.
14
Based on the official municipal document of 1905
permitting Miner to have a stove for ’boiling glue’ 18
Michaelsen, H. and Buchholz, R. (2006) pp. 162-
and the dates found on the fragments of newspaper 165.
originally serving as a separation layer between the
sheets of marquetry veneer.

159
Jaap Boonstra, Maarten van Bommel and Pol Bruys

19
Although fully colour-penetrated prestained ve- 25
On two Dutch pieces of furniture from the collec-
neers were produced by companies in France and tion of the Oderlandmuseum, Bad Freienwalde that
Germany, (Michaelsen and Buchholz 2006, p. 166), were found to have secondary marquetry in 1994-9
it remains questionable whether small scale cabi- by their restorer K. Broschke, the analyst Dr. A. Un-
netmaking-restoration firms did make use of that ger of the Rathgen-Forschungslabor Berlin similarly
material. Eilers’ description of ‘boiled’ veneers that analysed picric acid on yellow/green marquetry
were used for inlay, seems to indicate the workshops samples with the help of HPLC. We are grateful to
did their own staining. (Eilers, J. A., Antiekrestaura- our German colleagues Mr. K. Broschke, H. Michaels-
tor en wat er aan vooraf ging, Opleiding Restaura- en, R. Buchholz and professor Unger for providing
toren: Amsterdam, 1983, 17) Samples of coloured us with this information.
veneers from secondary marquetry more often than
not show only partial penetration. 26
Bureau display case L 767; Bureau bookcase L690;
Set of chairs L 691 a-
20
Three samples were taken from off-cuts of mar-
quetry elements from the Miner collection (avodiré, 27
At the time of writing this article were on exhibit
maple, horse chestnut), two from stained marque- in Ulriksdals Slott: an 18th century two door cabinet
try elements from the Miner collection (maple) and with later inlays (NM.C XV. 2192); two small chests
three from stained marquetry taken from a 19th of drawers; one commode with mirror in Oscar II
century dumb waiter top (horse chestnut). bedroom; a set of chairs in the balcony room and a
bureau bookcase.
21
van Bommel, M., van den Berghe I., Wallert, A.,
Boitelle R. and Wouters J. (2007) Journal of Chroma- 28
Inventory nr. L 745, possibly bought in 1882 at
tography A. Vol. 1157, pp. 260-272. the Grand Bazar Royal, The Hague (Van Voorst tot
Voorst, 1992, p. 451 and Rem P., 2003, Hofmeubilair
22
We are most thankful to Mr. C. Desmet and Mr. P. - Negentiende-eeuwse meubelen uit de collectie van
Rem for their help and support in this research. Paleis Het Loo. Zwolle: Waanders Uitgevers, pp. 150-
151, 202) Rem also mentions a second cabinet of
23
Literature mentions the use of these elements ; this type in the collection of HMS the Queen, Palace
calcium, iron, suphur, sodium and chloride as com- Noordeinde and a third one in the collection of the
ponents in separate stain solutions to be combined Fürst of Waldeck, Castle Arolsen.
with synthetic stains or as additives to such stains.
See for instance : 29
Exhibited in the General’s room of Ulriksdals Slott,
Buchholz, R. (2001) Zur Entwicklung und Geschichte Sweden.
der synthetischen Holzbeize. Eine Quellenkundliche
Studie und restauratorische Betrachtung als Beitrag 30
The use of ceramics incorporated in furniture was
zur Kunsttechnologie des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts possibly inspired by a true 17th century example.
am Beispiel der Entwicklungen von Beiztypen durch Compare: Watson, F.J.B. (1966) A possible source
den Chemiker Wilhelm Zimmermann sowie von for the practice of mounting French furniture with
Produkten der Fa. Arti in Barmen/Wuppertal. Diplo- Sevres porcelain. In: Opuscula in honorem C. Hern-
marbeit, Studiengang Restaurierung, Fachhochs- marck, Nationalmusei skriftserie, nr. 15. Stockholm:
chule Hildesheim. Nationalmuseum, pp. 245-254.
van Hoek, C. P. (1944) Beitsen, Kleuren en Oppervlak-
te-Behandeling van Hout. Deventer: Æ. E. Kluwer. 31
The cabinet with secondary inlay (Hallwylska
Kollmann, F. (1951) Technologie des Holzes und der Sammlingen inventory nr. I:I.d.d.8) was bought by
Holzwerkstoffe. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Mrs. W. von Hallwyl Kempe on 04.06.897 at the
Soxhlet, D. H. (1899) Die Kunst des Färbens und Bei- goldsmith and artdealer J. Bossard, Luzern. Inven-
zens von Marmor, künstlichen Steine, von Knochen, tory books Hallwylska Sammlingen, p.180. We thank
Horn und Elfenbein und das Färben und Imitiren von Mrs. I. Jansson, 1st curator of the Hallwylska museet
allen Holzsorten. Wien.Pest.Leipzig: A. Hartleben’s Stockholm for this information.
Verlag.

24
See note 21.

160
 Flowers from Holland

32
Eilers, J. A. (1983) Antiekrestaurator en wat er aan
vooraf ging. Amsterdam: Opleiding Restauratoren,
p. 17. ‘Rond 1900 werden er vele van deze kasten
(Drentse kasten met vlakke pilasters uit de tweede
helft van de 17de eeuw – JB) wat uiterlijk betreft ver-
fraaid; door in de bestaande fineer bloemmotieven
en figuren en (p. 18) slingers van gekookte en met
zand gebrande fineer in te leggen. Je had in die tijd
inleggers, kamelotwerkers en politoerders. […] Ook
stoelen en andere meubelen werden op deze manier
met inlegwerk verfraaid. Deze meubelen werden
in grote hoeveelheden uitgevoerd naar de Scandi-
navische landen. De uit de tijd zijnde meubelen en
de later van inlegwerk voorziene meubelen zijn heel
moeilijk uit elkaar te houden.’ Jaap Boonstra
Furniture Conservator
33
Zeeman, J. (1996) p. 63.

34-35
Unpublished memoires of J. Stodel (1927-2007);
Amsterdam Museum
‘...Dan hadden we nog een eigen werkplaats aan de Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Kromboomsloot. Twee mannen waren er dag in, dag
uit aan het restaureren. Ze politoerden en op besc- Tel. +31 (0) 20 523 18 22
heiden schaal gaven ze antieke meubelen nieuwe E-mail: [email protected]
marqueterie. Daar was rond 1900-1910 in Engeland
zo’n grote vraag naar, dat allerlei werkplaatsen in
de jodenbuurt er permanent een dagtaak aan had-
den om erin te voorzien. Vitrinekasten, commodes,
stoelen, tafels, staande klokken – van alles werd ge-
marqueteerd, soms met ivoor en parelmoer erin. De Maarten van Bommel
prachtigste meubelen zijn zo verknoeid. Dr. Senior Researcher
Soms kon je niet genoeg antieke meubelen
aangesleept krijgen om van marqueterie te voorzien. Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands
Geen nood! Dan maakten ze toch nieuwe meubelen Amsterdam, The Netherlands
met marqueterie?! Voor de patronen gebruikten ze
voorbeeldboeken met ornamenten...’.
We thank Mr. J. Estié, Salomon Stodel Antiquités, Tel. +31 (0) 20 305 47 80
Amsterdam for this information. E-mail: [email protected]
www.cultureelerfgoed.nl

Pol Bruys
Furniture Conservator

Private workshop
Haarlem, The Netherlands

Tel. +31 (0) 652 34 05 02

E-mail: [email protected]
www.bruijs-streep.nl

161
Jürgen Huber

New from old

– Discoveries during the Conservation Treatment of a ’Boulle’ Style
Commode in the Wallace Collection

Jürgen Huber

Introduction
This paper will outline the complex and time-con- acquired in the mid-nineteenth century by the
suming work undertaken to conserve a ‘Boulle’ style fourth Marques of Hertford, a passionate collector of
régence commode. As will be seen, this commode is Boulle furniture, who continued to buy pieces until
perhaps not all it once seemed. his death in 1870. The basic form of the commode
In april 2004 the commode was identified as in ur- dates from the régence, the period when Philippe
gent need of conservation. Much of the ebony veneer d’Orléans ruled France during Louis XV’s minority
and Boulle marquetry decoration was no longer (1715-1723), and it has traditionally been dated to
firmly adhered to the carcass, and excessive darken- about 1720.
ing and corrosion of the brass was obscuring much In June 2004 a detailed conservation treatment
of its engraved decoration. Areas of both brass and proposal was produced and the commode was
turtle shell were missing, and many elements were removed from East Gallery II to the Furniture
held approximately in position with adhesive tape Conservation workshop for detailed visual
to prevent further loss. The gilt metal mounts were examination and photography.
also heavily corroded in many areas and the thickly The conservation proposal was then further
applied shellac based coating (applied in 1925) was discussed with curatorial staff and the Wallace
very discoloured. The time-consuming treatment of Collection’s Conservation Advisory Committee,
this commode involved the use of EDTA, the vacuum an international panel of both conservation and
clamping technique, and rehydration, in addition to curatorial experts from the UK and abroad prior to
more traditional techniques. treatment commencing.
The Wallace Collection holds one of the largest and There is one recorded treatment on this commode,
most important collections of furniture attributed carried out between the 02/09-19/10/1925:
to André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732), in the world, ‘Inlay and shell loose. Take out clean; relay all
comprising about 70 pieces. Furthermore, there are loose inlay shell; repair groundwork clean up all
many more pieces decorated in Boulle marquetry, a over slightly with pumice powder; oil; re-polish with
style named after this famous cabinetmaker. button polish; dull down with pumice powder, clean
This commode, with the catalogue number F407 is mounts with turps; slight methelated spirit; lacquer
made in pinewood. The oak drawers are decorated one coat pale gold.’
with Boulle style marquetry, gilt-bronze mounts. The
top is of griotte marble. The commode was probably

162
 New from old

Figure 1 Commode before treatment, catalouge nr. F407.

Conservation treatment
The treatment commenced in October 2004 with the The ‘vacuum pressure-clamping’ technique was
recording through both drawings and photographs used wherever it was considered to be the most ap-
of F407 followed by the careful removal of all gilt propriate. There are of course advantages and dis-
metal mounts. Photos were mounted on cardboard advantages of using this technique. One advantage
and the screws used to hold the mounts into posi- is the even pressure applied to the surface. A flexible
tion were screwed into their corresponding places silicone panel heated to 50ºC was placed over the
on the photo, to enable the identification of the right prepared areas as part of this treatment and left for
screws when the mounts had to be reattached. up to thirty minutes. Clamps and weights were also
All the surfaces were then very carefully dusted, used to re-adhere loose, detached or indeed new
hoovered and cleaned with a damp soft micro fibre pieces of Boulle marquetry.
cloth. All the loose but still attached pieces of eb- After all preliminary consolidation and replace-
ony, turtleshell and brass veneer were glued back ment treatment had been carried out; the old shel-
into place using warm isinglass at a strength of ap- lac varnish applied in 1925 was softened with a pa-
proximately 10% weight, in water. This mixture was per I.M.S. poultice and removed after about fifteen
rubbed for several minutes over the marquetry sur- minutes. After removing the old shellac varnish the
face in order to seep into the crevices and reactivate rehydration technique used and where necessary
the already existing glue. This technique can be de- repeated until all areas of delamination were firmly
scribed as rehydration and the solution of isinglass re-adhered.
in water adds additional strength and flexibility. The marquetry was then polished using ‘ivory
Where necessary more glue in higher concentration black’, a finely-ground black pigment mixed with a
was injected using a hypodermic needle and a sy- little EDTA, Ethylene Diamine Tetra-acetic Acid Dis-
ringe. Brass parts which were distorted or bent were odium Salt (0.01 molar strength mixed with a small
removed where possible, straightened, cleaned, amount of Sodium Carbonate to increase the PH
and keyed (scratched) on the reverse before being value to 7) as a lubricant and to help to treat the cor-
glued back into position. Parts which could not be rosion. Where spots and patches of corrosion had
removed were straightened in-situ in best possible been removed, the underlying surface of the brass
way and glued back into place using a stronger mix- was often pinkish in colour, indicating a copper-rich
ture of isinglass. alloy suffering from zinc-depletion.

163
Jürgen Huber

Figure 2 Commode F407, detail of damage

before treatment.

Figure 3 Commode F407, detail of damage Figure 4 Commode F407, detail of damage
before treatment. before treatment.

Using more interventive abrasion techniques it the surrounding gold colour. The mounts were then
would have been possible to remove this discoloura- screwed back into place using the screws taken off
tion completely, but this was deemed unnecessary originally, after they were cleaned and lacquered,
and too interventional. The entire surface was then even though none of these screws can be considered
cleaned with a soft lint-free cloth dampened with as original.
I.M.S., in preparation for re-finishing. During the detailed examination of commode
Once detached, all the gilt-metal mounts were la- F407, it soon became clear that some major altera-
belled and exposed to Diacetone-alcohol vapour in tions had been carried out since its initial construc-
an airtight container for about 48 hours. Exposure tion in the early eighteenth century. Although almost
to the solvent vapour caused the varnish to break certainly made originally with a single top drawer,
down, and the degraded varnish could be brushed off this had been cut into two at a later date, resulting
with a soft bristle brush and IMS. For some mounts in the bottom of those drawers being rebated only
this process had to be repeated as the varnish as well along their outside edge, rather than throughout as
as waxes had been applied very thickly. The mounts they would have been originally.
were then fully submerged for about a minute in an So baffling were these inconsistencies that it was
EDTA disodium salt solution like the one used for decided to subject the commode to X-ray photogra-
treating the corroded marquetry and steam cleaned. phy, which finally proved conclusively that originally
This process was sometimes repeated several times it had been made with one single top drawer. The X-
until the desired result was achieved. In the next ray clearly revealed a rectangular hole in the centre
stage the mounts were rinsed with de-ionised water part of the top of the carcass; this would have been
and submerged in cork granules to dry before be- chiselled out to take the bolt of the double-throw
ing finally rinsed with a 50/50 mixture of IMS and lock which would have originally been in the centre
acetone. In some areas where the corrosion was too of the single top drawer. Obviously there is no sign
deep or an old soldered or brazed repair was too ob- of this now, from the outside, since the evidence was
vious, some mica-based pigment powder was mixed covered and lost due to the fitting of the two-drawer
with the shellac based lacquer and applied to match assembly.

164
 New from old

Figure 5 Commode F407 during treatment, ‘vacuum pressure-clamping’. Figure 6 Commode F407 during treatment, polishinging with
‘ivory black’.

The present four drawer locks are identical, which ered underneath the present marquetry scheme. At
would indicate that they also must be later replace- first it was thought that this represented isolated re-
ments, because there should actually be three iden- pairs in which veneer was glued onto the back of the
tical ones (for the three original drawers) and one turtle-shell to increase the thickness to match that
made later for a fourth drawer when the original of the surrounding area. However, as work contin-
single top drawer was split. ued it became clear that this veneer was to be found
Furthermore, the bottom-centre ‘apron’ at the everywhere underneath the Boulle marquetry, the
front was probably also a later addition, made of wood-grain running in the same direction (verti-
a timber completely different from the rest of the cally) throughout the carcass.
commode; the glue-block used as a reinforce to The layer of this ‘mahogany’ veneer appears to be
the back was clearly an old moulding re-used from present throughout. It is visible as a thin layer no-
something else. The back of the commode, compris- where more than 1,2mm in thickness on the edges
ing several planks of pine laid horizontally to each of the drawers and carcass.
other, was almost certainly later than the rest of the Whilst researching the history of the commode,
piece because they were tongue-and-groove jointed and looking for comparable pieces of furniture, an
(very crisply executed) rather than butt-jointed. example virtually identical to F407 was discovered.
During the process of cleaning and restoring the It had been sold in Monaco by Sotheby’s auction
commode it became increasingly obvious that the house on the 18th June 1994. The black and white
present Boulle style marquetry was not the origi- catalogue photograph reveals it to have been fitted
nal decoration, and thus was presumably made and with identical gilt-bronze mounts, apart from the
added in the middle of the 19th century, probably at drawer escutcheons; moreover, the dimensions of
the same time as all the other alterations were car- the piece were absolutely identical with its Wallace
ried out. Whilst cleaning areas of losses in the Boulle Collection counterpart. It too had one single long top
marquetry decoration, in preparation for fitting drawer and no apron… now thought to be the origi-
freshly-cut pieces of turtle-shell or brass, a reddish- nal form of the Wallace piece.
coloured veneer (probably mahogany) was discov-

165
Jürgen Huber

Figure 7 Commode before treatment, catalogue nr. F407. Figure 8 Commode F407, mounts, detail during EDTA treatment.

The Sotheby’s commode had clearly been veneered It is interesting to note that the chest-of-drawers/
with (presumably exotic) timbers, arranged in such commode F407 was exhibited at Bethnal Green from
a way that the wood-grain direction was varied so 1872-5, while Hertford House was being refurbished
as to make up decorative geometric patterns. This is prior to Sir Richard Wallace taking up permanent
certainly not the case with F407, though, since the residence in London. It was then described as fol-
wood-grain of the underlying veneer only runs in lows: ‘1327 Chest of drawers, new Boulle work, with
one direction (vertically on the carcass), and clearly marble top: French, late 17th century’ (although
consists of one tree-variety only, probably mahoga- modern scholarship places this style of commode
ny. Analysis is pending, but if (as seems likely) the rather later in date, into the early 18th century,
presence of mahogany is confirmed, then it is ex- probably no earlier than about 1720). The expres-
tremely unlikely that the application of this veneer sion ‘new’ is in fact somewhat ambiguous. It could
layer pre-dated the third quarter of the 18th cen- just mean ‘in as-new condition’, but it could equally
tury; mahogany was not being used in France even mean that even in the 19th century F407 was recog-
for furniture of royal quality until the middle of the nised as being in fact an old commode bearing ‘new’
18th century. decoration.
The presence of a veneer layer beneath the Boulle
style decoration of the Wallace Collection commode
tends to confirm that the Boulle marquetry was ap-
plied much later, probably in the 19th century. Af- Acknowledgments
ter much discussion of our observations with fellow I like to thank Stefanie van Wüllen, David Edge, Dr.
conservators, curators and furniture historians, we Alan Williams, Peter Hugh, John Hardy, Duncan Hook
can only conclude that F407 was probably originally and Zoë Allen for their help on this project.
veneered with wood-veneer decoration, of which
nothing now survives; it was then, probably in the
mid-19th century, structurally altered/ restored,
and re-veneered with new or recycled Boulle style
marquetry decoration, at a time when the popular-
ity of furniture by or in style of André-Charles Boulle
was at its zenith.

166
 New from old

Figure 9 Commode F407 in Gallery after treatment.

References
Hughes P. (1996) The Wallace Collection Catalogue
of Furniture.
Ramond Pierre, Marquetry
The Conservation Unit, Science for Conservators.
Peter Blight, Internal paper on the use of EDTA by
Jürgen Huber
The Meeting of East and West in the Furniture Trade Senior Furniture Conservator
Sixth International Symposium on Wood and Furni-
ture Conservation, Conference Postprints, Stichting The Wallace Collection
Ebenist, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. London, UK
37. Rivers, S., & Umney, N., (2003) Conservation of
furniture. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Tel. +44 (0) 20 75 63 95 26
E-mail: [email protected]

167
Clive Edwards

Continuities and Changes in Marquetry Technologies

and Techniques

Clive Edwards

Introduction Early developments

The basis of the paper is that there have been con- In 1803, Sheraton (p. 357) noted that marquetry
tinual developments in marquetry working from the (which he still called inlay): ‘was much in use be-
seventeenth century onwards that have developed tween twenty and thirty years back; but was soon
the craft, whilst remaining true to the basic techni- laid aside, as a very expensive mode of ornamenting
cal and visual principles. These may be classified as furniture, as well as being subject to a speedy decay’.
follows: This was a matter of fashion for particular designs
Changes from hand to machine; from practice to and styles and marquetry made a return to popular-
process in terms of techniques. Although the tech- ity by the mid nineteenth century.
niques illustrated in eighteenth century manuals are The practices, which had endured since the sev-
recognisable today, there have been many attempts enteenth century, were beginning to be inadequate
at developments in the materials and techniques for the larger volume of furniture being made during
used in marquetry. the nineteenth century. It was clear that there was
Changes from general cabinetmaker work to spe- a need for some mechanising of the process if pos-
cialist marquetry workers. The craft of specialised sible.
‘inlayer’s or marquetry workers operated in re- The process of building up decorative patterns
sponse to the growing demand for marquetry work. cut and inlaid into veneer, the whole of which
Ready-made marquetry panels, beadings etc. have was then applied as a sheet to a cabinet surface,
been produced since the eighteenth century in re- would seem to be a difficult process to mechanise.
sponse to demands. However, various attempts at producing machine-
Changes from elite to commonplace consumption made or machine-assisted marquetry were made
and the impact this had on the craft. As fashion in an attempt to speed up what was essentially a
moved towards marquetry for a wide range of furni- hand process. The majority of efforts to meet the
ture in the nineteenth century, this new demand put demand fell into three types. The first was a form of
pressure on the production process and encouraged simple batch production, others relied on imitation
a range of developments that included methods of of surface effects, and thirdly there were those that
imitation of true marquetry effects. tried to mechanise processes to speedily create
In this paper I will concentrate on the processes ‘marquetry’.
that tried to ‘improve’ the marquetry and associated Perhaps not surprisingly, the simple batch
processes during the nineteenth and twentieth cen- processes were first attempted. A decorative process
turies. described as mid-way between artistic marquetry

168
 Continuities and Changes in Marquetry Technologies and Techniques

Figure 1 Tiffany chair using wood mosaic decoration. ©

2013. Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art
Resource/Scala, Florence.

and Tunbridge-ware was invented by a Msr. ‘No marquetry exceeds for curiosity, that which is
Marcelin, a French marqueteur who exhibited occasionally brought now from India, known as the
mosaic veneering at both the 1851 and 1855 mosaic of Bombay and made of microscopic cubes
international exhibitions (Wyatt, 1856, p.296). It of wood that produce a fine effect’. Around 1890,
was made by gluing together pieces of wood so as Tiffany (New York) introduced wood mosaic which
to make a mosaic pattern, and then this was cut at ‘was produced by a new method of work. The pat-
precise angles. These blocks were then sliced into terns (...) are made of thousands of squares of nat-
as many thicknesses as required and laid down ural wood, sixteenth of an inch in size, of different
as a mosaic veneer. In 1863, G. Colomb (Pat. No. colours, and each individual square surrounded by a
905, 1863) patented a process that mixed wood minute line of metal’ (Ibidem).
shavings with glue and ‘other material’ which was In 1896, Karl Zuppinger (GB Pat.No.189622547),
then compressed into blocks ready to be sliced into a Zurich mechanician, patented a method of manu-
veneers. facturing mosaic plates or designs, characterized by
The American Mosaic Veneering Company of New the feature that ‘from a number of different blocks
York took out a patent in 1867. In this instance it did which are composed of coloured plates are obtained
not use wood parts but rather a ‘plastic’ material. differently composed plates by cutting in the trans-
The process involved forcing the material through a verse direction, which plates are joined together to
metal plate with the appropriate design upon it, then form a block according to the design to be produced,
drawing the resulting rods together and gluing and this block being cut transversely into plates for the
hardening them. Finally the bundles were sliced into purpose of working, not with single small rods, but
veneers ready for application. All these were in fact with plates, and thereby simplifying the manufac-
variations on the theme of mosaic Tunbridge ware, ture of mosaic plates’.
in which spills of wood of various colours are glued A more recent attempt at reviving this type of
together following a pattern. These blocks can then technique was by Takeshi Sadashige in 1976 (GB
be sliced through to reveal a decorative patterned Pat. No.1456889). In this method, blocks of timber
veneer. are routed out. The plug then inverted or rotated to
The wood mosaic process remained a fascination. change colour grain. This is glued back and then the
In 1878, Harriett Spofford (cited in Metropolitan block is sliced to create a decorative piece for assem-
Museum of Art, 1970) wrote in glowing terms of the bly as parquetry.
American practice of importing Indian marquetry:

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Clive Edwards

Imitative processes
As demand for furniture grew during the nineteenth Furniture manufacture, George Maddox (1865)
century, it is not surprising to find inventive minds openly declared in his catalogue of bedroom
turning to methods of imitating marquetry. One of furniture that his suites ‘were made of polished deal
the most successful was the Englishman John Dyer with the additions of ornamental borders, centres
(Pat. No. 1661), who in 1861 patented a process that etc. of imitative marquetrie [sic] having all the
produced an imitation of marquetry on the surface appearance of being really inlaid and being equal in
of deal or pine furniture. His simple method consist- every respect to satinwood and marquetrie’.In 1877,
ed of coating a cheap wood surface with gum, size or Charles Spurr and Louis Prang of Boston developed
wax and then applying blocks, stencils or transfers a process of printing on prepared plain white
to the surface. The dry surface was then French pol- wood veneer. The patent explains: ‘With the article
ished. The author and critic Lorenzo Booth (1864, so produced an excellent and remarkably close
p. 16) acknowledged the process as being an excit- imitation of marquetry or inlaid work, especially
ing development. He praised the partnership of Dyer of wood, ivory, or bone, may be accomplished at a
and Watts for their ‘honest intentions’: ‘These gen- trifling expense, in comparison to that required to
tlemen have directed their attention, first to treating producer the real work, of which the article may be
a common material with first rate workmanship and an imitation’.
superior design; and secondly they have involved While a little later, in 1882,William Schroeder of
and introduced a decorative system, which is sim- San Francisco (US Pat No. 257,081) applied for a
ple, effective and expressly suited to their common patent for a stencilling process that was ‘intended
material’. to be applied to the cheaper kinds of furniture and
The Art Journal (1863, p. 80) was even more glow- where it was desired to produce a fine effect of inlaid
ing in their account of the firms products: ‘Messrs work at moderate expense’.
Dyer and Watts claims from us a most decided ex- These variants on the basic process of veneering
pression of our approval and admiration- not only illustrate attempts to either copy more expensive
because of its intrinsic elegance, but also because, processes or achieve effects that would otherwise
being so excellent, it is in every respect adapted to be unobtainable. As in other cases the result was to
both the requirements and the means of the com- broaden the repertoire of available processes and
munity at large’. Finally, G. W. Yapp (1885, Plate cxix) to further encourage a narrowing of differentials
commenting on the painted furniture of Dyer and between the real and the illusory. However, the
Watts pointed out that painted ornament should not evidence does not indicate a great deal of interest
necessarily be made to imitate inlaid work. He said from the bulk of the trade, most of these processes
‘on the contrary, it is capable of effects quite beyond appear to have remained specialised and limited.
the reach of marquetry.’ This was perhaps the vindi-
cation of an imitative process that was a success in
its own right.

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 Continuities and Changes in Marquetry Technologies and Techniques

Figure 2 Zuppinger’s patent drawing for Mosaic

plates 1896.

Figure 3 Spur and Sprang’s patent drawing, 1875. Figure 4 Schroeder’s patent drawing, 1882.

171
Clive Edwards

Figure 5 Brock’s patent drawing, 1876. Figure 6 Thornton and Thallon’s patent drawing, 1877.

The case of Boulle (Buhl)

There were to be attempts to mechanise the Boulle he mentions the use of punches to cut out the shapes
process, as there was an increasing interest in mak- required, and in 1856, Digby Wyatt (p. 296) noted
ing these styles available to a wider market. In 1830 that ‘stamps or punches are sometimes used in buhl
the Mechanics Magazine (1st May 1830, p. 130) car- [sic] work of brass or wood, but only to a limited ex-
ried a report on an invention for ‘buhl-cutting’. This tent.’
machine, made by a Mr. McDuff, a member of the Lon- Initially the techniques were used to revive old
don Mechanics Institution, won a prize of £10.00 for designs rather than create new ones. Digby Wyatt
the best machine invented in the year 1829. McDuff (1856, p.294) commented on the practice of makers
was a working turner who devised an arrangement using the techniques to doctor old furniture rather
that allowed a frame with a reciprocating saw to be than design new models. He said: ‘It is a great pity
mounted onto an existing wheel -operated lathe. It that much of the ingenuity and dexterity which are
had the benefit of freeing both hands and of having now brought to bear in doing-up old foreign work,
the work surface flat. This method still used a saw should not be devoted to the improvement of our
process similar to the original ‘donkey’ method, but contemporary productions.’
reduced the time and improved the efficiency. But as the century progressed other processes
The cutting out process was speeded up by the use were introduced into Boulle work. In 1863 the Lon-
of stamping techniques for the metal (usually brass) don Cabinet Makers Book of Prices [Supplemen-
sections of the work. At least prior to 1818 the cab- tary], gave a note that ‘Buhl [sic] borders stamped
inet-maker George Bullock had a stamping press into veneer tops are charged at half the price of
with an iron vice and dies, which can reasonably banding.’ This seems to indicate that decorative bor-
be assumed to have been used to cut out the brass- ders were punched straight into the wood veneer
strip decoration that he used as inlay. Interest in me- surface to create a Boulle-like effect at a reduced
chanical Boulle work continued into the middle of cost. Other methods of obtaining Boulle effects with-
the century. In 1839 Andrew Ure in his Dictionary of out great cost included substitutions of materials.
Manufactures described Boulle decoration in which In a guide published in 1830 the process of using a

172
 Continuities and Changes in Marquetry Technologies and Techniques

Figure 7 Masselin’s patent drawing, 1879. Figure 8 Dunsky’s patent drawing, 1899.

Mechanised marquetry methods

mixture of tin and quicksilver mixed with size was Some mechanised processes were bizarre, and al-
suggested as an alternative to the more costly silver though the effects created were interesting, it was a
inlay. (sic) long way from traditional; marquetry or inlay. Clara
Another process, devised by a Mr. Cremer involved Mateaux (1883, p.153) described the system of ‘pat-
a method of applying a mix of japan and copper to a ent veneering’:
base frame to create an effect that resembled Boulle, ‘Here the thin slices of wood are glued fast to
but was made for between a tenth and a twentieth board, and on it is placed a piece of zinc in which has
of the cost. The process involved engraving a cop- been punched a scroll or other design. This metal
per plate, then taking an impression of this in gutta- plate is somewhat thicker than the sheet of wood.
percha onto which was deposited a film of copper. The whole board is then submitted to a roller, which
The whole surface was then painted with strong ja- forces the metal into the surface of the veneer, which
pan colour and this was built up and stoved between is then planed until the zinc itself is reached. This is
each layer. When it was as thick as the excised parts of course, forming a pattern, which has been fairly
it was then rubbed down to the copper surface leav- squeezed into the surface of the solid wood.’
ing the japan colour in the excised parts of the pat- Many seemingly good ideas were never commer-
tern (Wyatt, 1856, p. 294). Naturally this process re- cially adopted due to the wide range of products and
quired a substantial demand for it to be an economic styles produced in limited quantities, which inhib-
proposition. ited the introduction of ‘long-run’ processes, as well
In 1890 the magazine Furniture and Decoration as the abundance of labour available for simple mar-
(October 1st, p. 280) noted that: ‘The modern man- quetry work. However industrial examples contin-
ufacturers saw out simultaneously ten or twenty ued to be suggested.
sheets and the whole result is so rough and paltry
that to call it Boulle is a calumny on the name.’ This
would appear to be the triumph of economy over
craftsmanship.

173
Clive Edwards

In 1871 a Birmingham cabinet-maker, John Tysall Despite the detractors, interest remained high in
(Pat. No.308), patented a method of inlaying by cut- the potential of patented methods of marquetry. In
ting inlay into a carcase, then veneering over the top, 1879, Eugene Masselin (US Pat. No. 217,129) of New
finally carving out the pattern again to reveal the York devised marquetry in relief, or carved marque-
underneath inlay. Five years later, Philadelphia in- try process similar to the work of Fourdinois.
ventor, William Brock (US Pat. No. 178,989) in 1876 In 1898 Alfred Dunsky (GB Pat. No.189822867),
used tongued and grooved panels linked together a Berlin architect, devised inlay or tarsia-work pro-
and then cut through to produce striped marquetry duced by means of a transparent or translucent fill-
panels for floor or decorative use. ing and ornamental backing. In this case, ‘a transpar-
Another process was patented in 1875-7 by two ent or translucent filling or design of celluloid, horn,
cabinet-makers from Camden Town, London. John or the like is painted or coloured on the back, and
Thornton and James Thallon (GB Pat. No. 186,180), secured within a wooden plate which has the design
invented a method of ‘inlaid marquetry’. This rath- sawn out so as to form bevelled retaining-edges’. In
er contradictory name used a process of relief-cut a modification a design or pattern of ivory, brass, or
rollers that impressed the pattern onto the surface, ornamental material is secured within a transpar-
which was then planed level to reveal a marquetry- ent perforated plate, which is backed with a layer
like design. of metal, coloured fabric, etc. Several layers of wood
Indeed there were many detractors. In 1878, H. are glued on the back of the inlaid work, and the face
R. Paul (Society of Arts, 1878, p.419) in a commen- is planed, polished, stained, varnished, etc.
tary on the Paris Exhibition noted that a wardrobe, The improvement in ‘the production of ornamen-
by English makers Howard and Sons, had ‘some tal inlay or tarsia-work, which consists in using as a
machine-made marquetrie [sic], which is simply an covering or filling a transparent or translucent ma-
abomination’. His report goes on to describe how the terial capable of being planed, polished or otherwise
‘abomination’ was created: finished on its face or top, applying to the underside
‘It is made by cutting the pattern with a stamp, of the said filling a coloured fabric, layer of metals
placing it on the veneer that is to form the ground, or other ornamental backing, and then fixing the fill-
and squeezing the one into the other by machine ing in the suitably prepared surface, substantially as
pressure (...). Anyone may imagine the ragged edges described’.
left by such a process. In fact the wood must become In 1901 Ernst Hugendubel (GB Pat. No.190121859)
pulp before it can do what is intended.’ an umbrella manufacturer from Stuttgart, patented
The report ends with a sombre announcement a method of inserting marquetry on top of a soft
that said that ‘so long as wood is wood, and until base material (pasteboard, papier mâché) so that
a machine can be invented to deal with it as wood, various thicknesses of veneer may be used. The ap-
marquetrie [sic] will have to be made by hand’ (Ibi- plication of heavyweight presses the veneer pieces
dem). into the ‘soft’ base creating a flat surface.

174
 Continuities and Changes in Marquetry Technologies and Techniques

Figure 9 Ready made marquetry catalogue page James

Latham, London. c. 1900.

Figure 10 Patent drawing for Breece’s marquetry system 1948.

175
Clive Edwards

Figure 11 “Hopper Dark” panel by Anita Marquetry Llandrindod

Wells c 2000.

A year later Auguste Boehme (GB Pat. No. The patent explains the benefits:
190113274), an inventor from Bohemia, conceived ‘The method for producing marquetry from a
a system of cutting out blades that were arranged plurality of pieces of veneer wood makes provision
in groups in a metal plate and in this way several for the respective pieces of veneer to be divided up
complete designs or parts thereof are stamped out, into the necessary sections by means of a cutting
so as to prevent the marquetry pieces from being laser. In this manner, very accurate cut joints limited
torn between the different figures of the design and by clean-cut edges are obtained, requiring no form
to effect a close joining in the various designs. of after-treatment. The cut joints are so narrow that
Progress slowed in the early twentieth century in the regions of the veneer sheet on both sides of the
patent terms, but there were sporadic developments cut joint can be used as parts for the marquetry.
and attempts. Ready-made marquetry panels were Laborious manual work to cut the parts to size
often supplied by the trade for insertion into chair for marquetry is eliminated; moreover the time
backs and cabinets. required is greatly reduced.’
In 1948 John Breece (US Pat. No. 2,447,609) This important development was followed a year
devised a mechanical system that used pre designed later in 1987, by a more esoteric way of dealing with
marquetry inlays pressed into a surface that would marquetry. Cane Matevski (Pat. No. FR2592839)
allow the design to be implanted into the substrate obtained a patent for a method of producing ‘trans-
without cutting the shapes prior to application. lucent marquetry work’. This invention consists in
In 1986 a highly important development occurred rendering marquetry work translucent on both of its
when Atz-Maria Denger (Pat. No. DE3432681) faces by assembling the wood veneer on transparent
received a German patent for laser cutting marquetry. supports on both sides with adhesives that are like-
wise transparent. Although traditional marquetry
techniques remain, the search for variations on the
technique seems set to continue.

176
 Continuities and Changes in Marquetry Technologies and Techniques

References
Metropolitan Museum of Art New York (1970) 19th
Century America Furniture and other Decorative Arts,
Exhibition Catalogue, April 16 through September 7.

Booth, L. (1864) The Exhibition Book of Ornamental

Designs for Furniture etc. London.

Maddox, G. (1865) An Illustrated Catalogue of Bed-

room Furniture etc. London.

Mateaux, C. (1883) The Wonderland of Work. Lon-

don.

Sheraton, T. (1803) The Cabinet Dictionary. London.

Society of Arts (1878) Artisans Reports on Paris Ex-

hibition.

Ure, A. (1839) Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and

Mines. London.

Wyatt, M. D. (1856) On furniture and Decoration: Re-

ports on the Paris Universal Exhibition. London.

Yapp, G.W. (1879) Art Furniture, Upholstery and

House Decoration.

Clive Edwards
Professor of Design History

Loughborough University
Leicestershire, U.K.

Tel. +44 (0) 15 09 22 89 50

E-mail: [email protected]

177
Widar Halén

The Demand for more Decorations in Norwegian

Modernism – a political Statement

Widar Halén

Introduction
In the latter part of the 1930s and during the dark The new ideas were frequently submitted via
years of the Second World War there seemed to be a Sweden to Norway during these years. Sweden was
need for more decorations in Nordic Functionalism. our most important trade ally, and many of our
The austere Modern style was in fact associated designers and cabinetmakers were educated there.
with the contemporary fascist regimes of that of Several of them also lived in Sweden during the late
Russia and Germany, where much of the style had 1930s and the Second World War. Even in Sweden
originated. In the Nordic countries we launched a the Functionalism style and steel-rod furniture was
suitable alternative which was more influenced by regarded as too austere and around 1930 the Art
the French Art Déco style, where decorations were Déco style was introduced as a suitable alternative.
prevalent. In fact there was a public demand for more During the 1920s and 30s Carl Malmsten and Axel
decorations, and we shall see that it was particularly Einar Hiorth reintroduced the art of marquetry in
expressed in some colourful marquetry work in Swedish furniture, and Josef Frank who had fled
Scandinavian furniture at the time. It was generally from Austria in 1934 soon made similar pieces. Julius
referred to as intarsia in Scandinavia, although and Rolf Lehmann and Manne Johansson (Manning)
technically it was in fact marquetry. Previously art were the most important marqueters.1
historians have claimed that the Art Déco style had Their attempts to introduce decorations in the
only limited impact in Norway, but this was certainly Functionalism style were heavily criticised as ‘Pseu-
not the case with cabinetmaking. do functionalism’.2 The same derogatory attitude
This refined form of furniture decoration was could be detected in Norway when the painter and
certainly not unknown in Norway and in Nordic sculpturer Arthur Gustavson in 1934 referred to
countries. The Empire style and Art Nouveau the development in Sweden with the slogan: ‘Let us
furniture masters had made great examples of strike a blow for intarsia!’3
marquetry decorated furniture, but the subsequent In his article on ‘Intarsia, technical tradition and
Functionalism and Modern Movement rejected artistic renewal in perfect union’, he also explained
ornaments and promoted a rather cold and severe the technical details of this complicated art. He
style which made a breakthrough at The Norwegian showed how the various woods were laid on top of
Exhibition in Bergen in 1928 and in The Stockholm the other, and how the pattern was drawn and then
exhibition in 1930. finally cut out with a fine saw. The various bits with

178
 The Demand for more Decorations in Norwegian Modernism - a political Statment

Figure 1 Cupboard with marquetry decoration showing the history of Figure 2 Cupboard with marquetry decorations
Norwegian shipping, mahogany, macassar, birdseye, zebrano, jacaranda, showing the four seasons, design and carpentry
paddock, lemon tree and caucasian nut, designed by Karen Berner (later Carl Malmsten and marquetry by Manne Johansson
Brochmann) and motifs by Arthur Gustavson for The Norwegian Shipping (Manning), Stockholm 1933.
Association. Made by Johan Fredrik Monrad and marqueter Wilhelm
Sjøwall. Oslo 1934. Photographer:Andreas Harvik, Nasjonalmuseet.

their face down were then glued to a large piece lished individual companies. These brothers were
of paper and this was subsequently glued on to both pioneers in their field, presenting the finest
the furniture carcass - and finally the paper would combination of art and industry. Both had their craft
be removed. Gustavson summed up his article by certificates as well as their higher degree from the
asking why ‘this charming arts and crafts technique Government School of Art and Crafts. At the school
had been neglected for so long by us?’ He suggested they became friends with some of the future lead-
certain answers to this question; the massive ing architects and designers such as Odd and Karen
recession during the late 1920s as well as the lack of Brochmann6 and Arne Korsmo, who all delivered de-
machinery skills among Norwegian cabinet makers, signs to the company. The Monrad Brothers above
and the influence of the more severe Functionalism. all became famous for the artistic crafts touches of
Norway was lacking behind in developing the their furniture. They had embraced the machines
furniture industry, and it was only in 1934 that but they managed to combine it successfully with
one heard about machinery for all sorts of cabinet old craft techniques, like intarsia and marquetry
making. In fact the prizes on furniture fell with for instance. Clearly these refined furniture pieces
40 % from 1929 to 1935 as a result of this light stand in sharp contrast to the steel rod furniture and
industrialization, and it was only after this period plywood of the time.
that Norwegian furniture industry developed.4 The Monrad Brothers undertook several major
interior decorations in Norway during the early
1930s, especially for our wealthy ship-owners, and
they furnished several of the big American liners. In
1930s – Art Deco and Functionalism
1934 they executed their first commission for the
aesthetics reflected and rejected
Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad5 was one of the first
cabinetmakers in Norway to invest in machinery.
After an apprenticeship with the Ollendorf Brothers
he started his own company in 1932 with his broth-
er Hans Sundt Monrad, who was educated as an
upholsterer, but in 1936 they separated and estab-

179
Widar Halén

Figure 3 Frescoes for the Bergen Bourse showing the shipping industry by Axel Revold, Bergen 1918-23.

Norwegian Shipping Association for their 25th ju- designers received important impulses from the
bilee, a cupboard with marquetry decoration (Fig- decorative fresco paintings which were intended
ure 1). The cupboard was drawn by architect Karen to give some life to the austere architecture of
Berner. She was the daughter of one of our major the period. This remarkable piece of furniture
architects during the first part of the 20th. Centu- can be placed in a historical context with more
ry, Carl Berner, and she later married the architect international designers like Sué et Mare and
Odd Brochmann. The marquetry was designed by Etienne Kohlman in France, who made similar
Arthur Gustavson and cut by Wilhelm Sjøwall who cupboards and decorations during the 1920s and
did most of this for the Monrad Brothers. The cup- 30s.8 The friezelike effect and horror vacui is also
board showed the history of shipping in Norway reminiscent of Paul Poirets marquetry interiors and
over five horizontal friezelike compartments which Jean Dunand’s lacquered screens from the 1920s.
covered the whole of the cupboard front. The year Dunand was represented at all the larger exhibitions
before Carl Malmsten in Stockholm had made a simi- during this period and a screen by him named ‘The
lar cupboard with four horisontal pictures showing Huts’ show the same division of five horizontal
the four season in marquetry by Manne Johansson friezelike compartments as that of Karen Berner.9
(Manning) (Figure 2). This had been featured in the In 1935 Berner married Odd Brochmann and
magazine Form7, and it is possible that Karen Berner in 1937 they established their architectural and
and Arthur Gustavson could have seen this cupboard. interior decorating firm. The same year they
The composition and horror vacui is indeed close to visited the Paris World Exhibition, where they
that of Malmsten’s. The marquetry is particularly certainly saw Dunands work. In fact several of
colourful and the woods were described as mahoga- their mutual marquetry furniture pieces can be
ny, macassar, birdseye, zebrano, jacaranda, paddock, compared to some of Dunands lacquer work.
lemontree and caucasian nut. It displays a virtuous, The Brochmanns and the Monrad Brothers
high class marquetry and the pictures can be associ- marquetry furniture was extremely well received
ated with our most famous artist Axel Revold who and many designers now turned their back to
had executed similar fresco decorations in the Ber- the austere Functionalism and looked towards
gen Bourse 1918-23 showing the city’s commerce something ‘more human and decorative’ as they put
and shipping (Figure 3). Clearly the architects and it.10 By using the marquetry technique they achieved

180
 The Demand for more Decorations in Norwegian Modernism - a political Statment

Figure 4 Bar cupboard with marquetry decorations, design by Arthur

Gustavson, carpentry by Johan Fredrik and Hans Sundt Monrad and
marquetry by Wilhelm Sjøwall, Oslo 1936.

Figure 5 ‘Outside the Factory’ painting by Arne Ekeland, Oslo 1936.

the decorative effect without breaking the flatness Wilhelm Sjøwall had also placed some silver stars
of the surface. It was the same attitude which pre- inlaid among the trees. The cupboard itself was
vailed among the goldsmiths with their highly deco- made of teak wood and it was probably the first time
rative guilloche and enamel decors on silver. this exotic wood was used in Norway. Teak became
In 1936 Arthur Gustavson composed a bar cup- increasingly popular as no lacquer was needed, just
board with lively marquetry decorations executed polishing with oil. The full length pictures of the
by William Sjøwall for The Monrad Brothers (Fig- doors and the general horror vacui again bring to
ure 4). The first inexpensive wine was imported to mind Jean Dunand’s screens, particularly one called
Norway in this period and this is reflected in the two ‘Snow in the Woods’ from 1936, which was pictured
panels ‘Chianti’ and ‘Toscana’. The somewhat angu- in Gazette des Beaux Arts and may have been the in-
lar and constructivist compositions are not dissimi- spirational source for this cupboard (Figure 7).
lar to Arne Ekelands contemporary paintings (Fig- In 1937 the Brochmanns made yet another deco-
ure 5).The interior was covered with opal glass and rative cupboard for Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad.
a sandblast décor of a sailing ship at the back wall. The cupboard was standing on four column legs and
Dr. Thor Kielland, the former director of The Oslo the exterior had a stripe effect with chalk-coloured
Museum of Decorative Arts, was Norwegian com- stripes alternating with lacquered oak and stud-
missary for the Paris World Exhibition in 1937. The ded with silver nails. The interior decorations were
cupboard was exhibited in Paris on his initiative and not intarsia but painted this time, and they showed
it received a lot of attention and was subsequently scenes from workers life and commerce and can be
bought by a Norwegian.11 compared to Alf Rolfsens frescos for the Tele-com-
Karen and Odd Brochmann participated in the munication Bureau in Oslo from 1922. The back wall
Paris World Exhibition in 1937, where they exhibited of the cupboard interior was covered with yellow
one of their marquetry cupboards executed by Johan glass and the drop-leaf serving table was covered
Fredrik Sundt Monrad and Wilhelm Sjøwall. The with black glass.
cupboard featuring a skier among trees was also
shown in the International Crafts exhibition in Berlin
and at the International exhibition in Prag in 1938
(Figure 6).12 To enhance the motif the marqueter

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Widar Halén

Figure 7 Lacquer screen ‘Snow in the Woods’ by Jean Dunand, Paris

1936.
Figure 6 Cupboard in teak wood with marquetry in various
woods, design Karen and Odd Brochmann, carpentry by
Johan Frederik Sundt Monrad and marquetry by Wilhelm
Sjøwall, Oslo 1937.

It was not until the later 1930s that the Art Déco of ‘Peer Gynt’ the man who desired to conquer the
style made a proper impact in Norwegian furniture world, just like our emigrants to the USA wanted to
design, and this was much thanks to the work conquer their new territories. This impressive piece
of Karen and Odd Brochmann. They also drew of marquetry was destroyed during the Second
furniture for the Oslo company G.N.Huseby. Amongst World War, alas (Figure 8).
these is a striking cupboard from 1937 with a The exhibition ‘We can make it’ in Oslo in 1938 was
chequer pattern of elm and nut-wood alternating, a tremendous boost for Norwegian decorative arts
and with some tin plaques engraved with Diana- and for the company of Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad
motifs by the ironsmith Carl Bilgrei and executed as well. They received great acclaim for their so called
at J.Tostrup goldsmiths in Oslo. G. N. Huseby ‘Oslo-cupboard’, which has recently been acquired
received a gold medal for this cupboard at the Oslo by the National Museum of Art, Architecture and
Handicraft and Industry exhibition in 193713, and Design in Oslo (Figure 9). It was drawn by Karen and
two years later it was also exhibited at the Deutsche Odd Brochmann and the marquetry was by Wilhelm
Ostmesse in Königsberg where it was acquired Sjøwall. The cupboard itself was executed in flame-
by the Reichswirtschafts-ministerium in Berlin.14 teak, and the composition with the new Oslo skyline
The French love of marquetry had also been was successfully composed in various woods as a
displayed in the luxurious interiors of trains, liners middle-belt along the front and with silver lines
and boats, particularly in the famous Wagon Lits of to underline the water effect. Even the unfinished
the Compagnie International in the 1920s. In 1937 City Hall with its twin towers is included. The
Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad executed a seven square composition can be compared to several depictions
meter large marquetry panel for the Norway-America of the New York waterfront which became so popular
Liners ship Oslofjord I.15 The motif which was drawn in American art after Fritz Lang used it as leitmotif
by the artist Per Krohg pictured Henrik Ibsen’s tale in his famous film ‘The Metropolis’ in 1926.

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 The Demand for more Decorations in Norwegian Modernism - a political Statment

Figure 8 Panel ‘Peer Gynt’ for the Norway – America Liners ship Oslofjord 1
by Per Krohg, executed in various woods by Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad and
Wilhelm Sjøwall, Oslo 1937.

Figure 9 ‘The Oslo cupboard’, design

Karen and Odd Brochmann, teak, vari-
ous woods and silver details. Carpentry
by Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad and
marquetry by Wilhelm Sjøwall, Oslo
1938. The National Museum of Art,
Architecture and Design. Photographer:
Børre Høstland, The National Museum.

Second World War and Post War

lightness, simplicity and decorativeness
In 1959 the Norwegian Furniture Manufacturers The demand for more decorations however, led to
Association was celebrating their 50th, jubilee with the creation of a number of neo-renaissance and
an exhibition in The Oslo Museum of Decorative Art, neo-baroque furniture with inappropriate orna-
where several of the Monrad Brothers cupboards and ments. In 1943 in Bonytt, the Norwegian interior
furniture pieces were featured.16 Odd Brochmann decorators magazine, it was reported that a fur-
wrote then that the reunion of these cupboards niture shop-keeper had uttered that ‘People now
made him realise how worried he had been by ‘the wants decorations. Yes they simply want it, and the
unyielding demands of Functionalism’ and that he furniture do look more distinguished with some
with these furniture designs had sought to achieve ornaments. A main point is that it is not so much
something more human: ‘The cupboard show how expensive either, since these ornaments have been
we strove to return to the more decorative. The use prefabricated in all different styles and they can be
of intarsia was characteristic of its time, and in this acquired in all shops. It is just to glue them on to the
way we could keep the clean and smooth surfaces surface wherever you think it is suitable!’20
which we had sworn to maintain.’17 Regardless of the hard times of war some architects,
The dark years of the Second World War had designers and furniture makers managed to keep
developed an urge from the depth of the people, ‘a their integrity during these difficult years. Among
demand for more decorations’ as they said.18 But them was the interior decorator Arne Remlov who
poverty and lack of materials led to the use of less in 1943 underlined that the war, despite the lack
costly materials and bad substitutes. ‘They copy and of materials, working power and professional
steel and cheat, until all your creativity has gone’ inspiration, had given room for a remarkable clearing
said Jens von der Lippe in 1943.19 Indeed, this lack of ground. Particularly with a view of matching the
honourable work and professional moral mirrored materials with more simple and rational shapes.21
the rotten wartime regime.

183
Widar Halén

Figure 11 Cigar box in various woods and

marquetry, design by Karen and Odd Bro-
chmann, executed by Johan Fredrik Sundt
Monrad and Wilhelm Sjøwall, Oslo 1942.
Figure 10 Cupboard in bubinga wood, mahogany, jacaranda and pear wood with
marquetry, designed by Alf Sture for Arne Hiorth, executed by Hiorth and Østlyngen furni-
ture makers, Oslo 1941.

Alf Sture was another designer who retrospectively bottles was in jacaranda wood with marquetry and
said that: ‘The stereotype selection of shapes and the interior back of the cupboard was covered with
colours in the “renaissance-furniture” which were frosted glass with lights behind the glass. Sture had
seen in many homes, was so degrading to the mind seen a similar cupboard by Carl Malmsten during
that many wished for a richer variety, and at the his studies in Sweden in 1939, and this may have
same time there was an emphasis on construction inspired his apprentice piece.23
and simplification. In the period 1940-45 we moved During the war Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad also
much more in that direction than what we had done executed quite a few cigarr- and cigarettes boxes, in
during the 1930s when Functionalism was launched. various woods and with with marquetry work based
The principal idea of one piece furniture as opposed on drawings by Karen and Odd Brochmann (Figure
to the ensembles were maintained. During the 40s 11). These boxes became tremendously popular and
one went one step further with a greater variety several of them were delivered to the goldsmiths
of colours. To avoid the similarity between colours David-Andersen and J. Tostrup which furnished
in textiles and the furniture wood we underlined them with silver fittings and sometimes also with
the use of contrast and stronger colours in the silver inlay or intarsia. The lack of silver during the
upholstery. It also became fashionable with different war made this cooperation natural, and the general
coloured walls in one room’.22 problem with materials encouraged designers to
Alf Sture who became one of our main furniture experiment as they had never previously done.24
designers during the post war period made his The Norwegian interior magazine Bonytt pub-
apprenticeship work in 1941 and it was indeed a lished a longer interview with Odd Brochmann about
colourful cupboard he made for Arne Hiorth of the “Intarsia” in 1942. Several of his and Karen’s works
furniture company of Hiorth and Østlyngen (Figure for Monrad were illustrated, and many of the cup-
10). It was a combined bar and cupboard and it boards from the 1930s with the heavy Art Déco like
was executed in bubinga-wood and mahogany. The substructures, but the latest works from the 1940s
doors are in dark polished pear-wood with sailing reveal lighter proportions with thinner legs and sub-
boats and hunting motifs incised, which showed structures (Figure 12). The inspiration from Swe-
the hobbies of the owner. The drop-leaf door for den and particularly from Carl Malmsten is evident

184
 The Demand for more Decorations in Norwegian Modernism - a political Statment

Figure 12 Cupboard in various woods and with

marquetry, designed by Odd Brochmann. Carpen- Figure 13 Cupboard in various woods and with
try by Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad and intarsia by marquetry, designed and executed by Carl Malm-
Wilhelm Sjøwall, Oslo 1942. sten, intarsia by Manne Johansson (Manning)
Stockholm, 1941.

(Figure 13). Finally the Nordic designers had man- keep up their production despite the lack of materi-
aged to separate themselves from the Art Déco influ- als during the war.27 That year Johan Fredrik Sundt
ence and a new style was making its way – that which Monrad made yet another cupboard after drawings
should be called Scandinavian design after the war. by Karen and Odd Brochmann and with marvellous
Brochmann summed up the ideas of the time saying marquetry by Wilhelm Sjøwall. It is a slender, re-
that: ‘The light and slender furniture, which younger fined structure, with rounded corners and legs and
architects and designers are launching now, come as with three drawers under the doors (Figure 14). The
a reaction to the heavier furniture of the past. This same structure can be seen in Malmstens cupboards
kind of furniture has managed to cleanse the air and from the time and this in fact became the model for
recreate the sense of simple lines and structures, Scandinavian cupboards until the end of the 1950s.
and soon there will be time for decoration and orna- The doors were entirely covered by marquetry
ments by competent artists. The light furniture will in light mahogany, oak, rosewood, maccaser and
receive a refined decoration just like in the time of zebrano-wood, and with some stars in silver. The
the Empire style’.25 motif with the deer in the wood was similar to that
Dagbladet, one of Norways largest newspaper, of Jean Dunand’s screen from 1936 (Figure 7), but
published a whole page article in 1942 about ‘The even more suggestive perhaps is the fact that Walt
Revival of an old crafts technique. Intarsia has rich Disney’s film ‘Bambi’ was launched in the Scandina-
traditions in Norwegian cabinet making’ and placed vian countries in 1943.
the recent development of this work in a similar
historical context. The collaboration of Karen and
Odd Brochmann with Johan Fredrik Sundt Mon-
rad and Wilhelm Sjøwall was emphasized as par-
ticularly important to this development, and the
painter Rolv Kongsvolds drawings for marquetry
panels for interi ors were also lauded as high art.26
In 1943 the Norwegian magazine Byggekunst urged
furniture makers to indulge in marquetry and to

185
Widar Halén

Figure 14 Cupboard in teak with marquetry in mahogany, Figure 15 Cupboard in various woods and marquetry
oak, rosewood, maccasar, zebrano woods and silver stars, designed by Karen and Odd Brochmann. Carpentry by Arne
designed by Karen and Odd Brochmann. Carpentry by Jo- Bjørke, Porsgrund and intarsia by Wilhelm Sjøwall, Oslo 1943.
han Fredrik Sundt Monrad and intarsia by Wihelm Sjøwall,
Oslo 1943. PHotography: Andreas Harvik, The National
Museum.

During the same year the Brochmanns had also Von der Lippe also mentioned the ceramic works by
drawn the interiors of the directors office in Isaac Grünewald and Stig Lindberg in Sweden and
Heistad’s jam factory. The whole ceiling was by Jais Nielsen and Inger Møller in Denmark as well
covered by marquetry, and the furniture was light as Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrads furniture. Bonytt
and slender in light coloured woods, made by the magazine invited to a debate about ‘More decora-
furniture maker Arne Bjørke and with marquetry tions’ where several of our most prominent design-
by Wilhelm Sjøwall (Figure 15).28 The motifs are ers and architects participated. They spoke in favour
more in the manner of the popular social realism of of and against decorations. Monrad and Brochmann
the day with ladies who make jam and juice which defended their use of marquetry whereas the young
they delivered to the factory. Here the democratic Alf Sture uttered that furniture was best seen with-
attitude of the early Scandinavian design movement out ornaments. The designer Sverre Pettersen un-
is clearly visible. derlined that we Northerners who suffer from win-
It was indeed during the middle of these dark ter, cold and darkness during long periods of the year
waryears that Jens von der Lippe in the magazine needed festive colours and decorations, and Arne
Bonytt could proclaim ‘that now the public is Remlov uttered that: ‘We must achieve some kind of
craving for decorations, and a lot of people want to enrichment of our furniture surfaces’. Evidently the
decorate’.29 He referred to a whole mix of various marquetry decorations were most suitable because
historical styles and ornaments which during the you could retain the clean surfaces, which Dr. Thor
war had become so popular. This was clearly a Kielland defended during this debate. Jacob Prytz,
reaction against the austere Functionalism and early the headmaster of the Government School of Design
Modern style which people in fact associated with and Crafts, summed up the general attitude by say-
the fascist regime they suffered under. This early ing that: ‘A decoration, an ornament must be built
phase of Scandinavian design should be seen as a in a constructive way, in the most intimate contact
distinct political statement opposing the wartime with the shape, and finally the whole object and its
regimes, and particularly in Norway which was decoration must be suited to its function.’30
occupied by the Nazis for five years.

186
 The Demand for more Decorations in Norwegian Modernism - a political Statment

Figure 16 Cupboard in various woods and with marquetry by Karen and Odd Brochmann. Carpentry by G.N.
Huseby and intarsia by Wilhelm Sjøwall, Oslo 1945.

Karen and Odd Brochmann agreed in this state- The country had to be rebuilt and the great pride
ment and they continued to pursue the fine art of were the new factories, – here in the pictorial
marquetry. Towards the end of the war in 1945 they manner of the painter Axel Revold who at this time
designed yet another cupboard for G. N. Huseby was executing the frescoes of the new City Hall in
with marquetry by Wilhelm Sjøwall, which was a Oslo. Hans J. Wegner had made a similar marquetry-
gift from The Norwegian Crafts and Industry Society cupboard which was exhibited in the Danish Museum
to Bergen Crafts and Industry Society’s Centenary of Decorative Art in Copenhagen in the same year, but
(Figure 16).31 The outer surface of the doors were a Danish critic wrote that ‘the marquetry works are
covered by a simple hexagon pattern, whereas the often too sweet and unpleasant to look at.’33 Shortly
inner parts were decorated with the finest marque- after the cleaner lines and undecorated shapes of
try showing the carpenters and bricklayers in full the Scandinavian design movement was a fact.
action rebuilding the devastated country.
‘Quality and Crises’ was a strongly debated theme
in our most popular interior magazines just after the
war.32 Many people felt that the old sense of quality
had been weakened during the war, and this was
probably true. Fascist regimes frequently have a
negative influence on artists and designers. How-
ever, some good furniture pieces were finally on the
market again and a marquetry cupboard designed
by Karen and Odd Brochmann was shown as a good
example (Figure 17).
The cupboard had been ordered as a gift to the di-
rector of Lilleborg factory, one of our most important
chemical industries after the war, and it showed the
factory framed by a dramatic kind of theatre-curtain.

187
Widar Halén

time for the company of Ole N.Ruud in Oslo before

he established his own company together with his
brother Hans in Oslo in 1932. (Hans established his
own company in 1936. ) Made the interiors for sev-
eral of the rooms in the new City Hall in Oslo, and
numerous remarkable pieces of intarsia and mar-
quetry furniture. Received H.M. King Olav V’s gold
medal in 1959.

6
Odd Thoralf Brochmann (1909-1992) architect
educated at NTH, The Norwegian Technical Univer-
sity, Trondheim1928-34, married the architect Ka-
ren Berner (1908-1988 ) in 1935, and they started
a joint architectural company in 1937, from 1952 in
collaboration with architect Dag Rognlien who sub-
sequently took over the company in 1965. After this
lecture was presented I have discovered that Karen
Brochmann made most of the furniture designs,
while Odd executed the drawings for the decorative
motives. See Widar Halén: “Karen og Odd Broch-
Figure 17 Cupboard in various woods and marquetry show-
manns Møbeldesign” in Kunst og Kultur, Oslo, nr. 2,
ing Lilleborg Factory, designed by Karen and Odd Brochmann. 2010: 78-89.
Carpentry by Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad and with marquetry
by Wilhelm Sjøwall, Oslo 1946. 7
Romdahl, A. L. (1933) Möbler av Carl Malmsten. In:
Form, pp. 209-215.
Notes
8
Kjellberg, P. (1980) Art Déco. Paris, p. 104.
1
Nordenfeldt, E. (2003) Lehmanns i Bodafors, Garner, P. (1980) 20th Century Furniture. London, p.
Familjen som blev mästare på intarsia. In: Antik & 75.
Auktion, nr. 7-8, pp. 76-80.
9
Marcilhac, F. (1991) Jean Dunand - his life and
2
Boman, M. (ed.) (1991) Svenska Möbler 1890 – works. London, p. 213.
1990. Kristianstad, p. 145.
10
Anon (1943) Mere Dekor. In: Bonytt. pp. 156, 158.
3
Gustavson, A. (1934) Intarsia, teknisk tradisjon og
kunstnerisk fornyelse i lykkelig forening. In: Vi Selv
11
Information from Johan F.S. Monrad who prior to
og Våre Hjem. p. 176. Arthur Gustavson (1895-1968) his death in 1995 contributed essential information
designer, ceramist and sculpturer was educated at included in this article.
the Government School of Art and Craft and at Val-
and Art School in Gothenburg as well as Kunstgew-
12
Norges Håndverk og Industri (1938) pp. 55, 236.
erbeschule in Vienna.
13
Norges Håndverk og Industri (1937) p. 176.
4
Wildhagen, F. (1988) Norge i Form. Oslo, p. 101.
14
Norges Håndverk og Industri (1939) p. 152.
5
Johan Fredrik Sundt Monrad (1805-1995) Oslo,
Norway. Training with the company Ollendorf
15
Dagbladet, june 20, 1942 (illustrated)
Brothers in Oslo from the early 1920s, mastersde- Bård Kolltveiet (1984) Amerikabåtene. In: Norsk
gree at SHKS (The Government School of Art and Sjøfartsmuseums Skrift, nr. 44. Oslo. “Oslofjord I ble
Crafts) Oslo, and after that he worked for 4 years in sjøsatt i 1937 og var i trafikk fra 1938 til 1940 da
Oslo before he enrolled as an apprentice with David den gikk på en mine utenfor England. Oslofjord II ble
Blomberg in Stockholm. This was around the time sjøsatt i 1949.”
of the Stockholm exhibition in 1930. Worked some

188
 The Demand for more Decorations in Norwegian Modernism - a political Statment

16
Midtbust, A. (ed.) (1959) Til 50 års jubileet i 33
Jalk, G. (ed.) (1989) Dansk Møbelkunst gjennom 40
Møbelprodusentenes Landsforening 1909-1959. In: år. København, vol II, pp. 224-225.
Møbelsnekkeren, nr. 4-6

17
Bonytt (1959) p. 138.

18
Anon (1943) Mere Dekor. In: Bonytt. pp. 156-159.

19
von der Lippe, J. (1943) Dekor i Vår Tid. In: Bonytt,
pp. 129-133.

20
Bonytt (1943) p. 158.

21
Remlow, A. (1943) Det skjer noe her og. In:
Bonytt, pp. 182-187.

22
Bonytt (1959) p. 138.

23
Omtvedt, E. (1996) Norsk Møbelproduksjon i
1940-og 50-årene, belyst ved interiørarkitekt Alf
Stures design, unpublished batchelor dissertation,
University of Oslo, p. 44.

24
Engelstad, H. (1945) Gullsmedkunst søker nye
venner. In: Vi Selv og Våre Hjem, nr: August, pp.10-
12.

25
Lund, K. (1942) Intervju med arkitekt Odd Bro-
chmann: Intarsia Innlegningsarbeid. In: Bonytt, pp.
81- 84.

26
”Et gammelt håndverk kommer igjen. Intarsiaen
har rike tradisjoner i norsk møbelkunst”,Dagbladet
20.6.1942. Rolv Kongsvold (1903-1960) was a stu-
dent of Per Krogh and Axel Revold and during the
Second World War he turned to intarsia and exe-
cuted several drawings for interior panels and some
furniture pieces.

27
Byggekunst (1953) p. 57.

28
Bonytt (1943) p. 185 and Vi Selv og Våre Hjem Dr. Widar Halén
(1943), nr: September. Director of Design and Decorative Arts
29
Op cit: 131. Kunstindustrimuseet,
The National Museum of Art,
30
Bonytt (1953) p. 157.
Architecture and Design
31
Norsk Håndverk og Industri (1946) p. 135. Oslo, Norway

32
Vi Selv og Våre Hjem (1946) Kvalitet og Krise, pp. Tel. +47 (0) 21 98 21 16
20- 21. E-mail: [email protected]

189
Rasmus Malbert

A contemporary Use of Marquetry

– Traditional Techniques in a modern Context

Rasmus Malbert

Introduction Marquetry, yesterday until today

As a student at Carl Malmsten Furniture Studies I At first thought, this seemed like a brilliant idea but
studied cabinetmaking and wood technology for a the more I prepared and researched in marquetry,
bachelors degree. To be given the chance to study the more frightened I felt. We all know the history
the art of making fine furniture has been an honour of marquetry, first there was none, then there was
and a privilege. marquetry, then a little bit more, then a lot of mar-
Amongst many different techniques in giving quetry, and suddenly, there was nothing. This is of
shape to wood we were taught the basics of marque- course not the whole truth but an interesting way of
try. Amazed as I was by this way of treating wood, I looking at it.
wanted to find a way to use marquetry in my furni- Marquetry in Sweden, as we know it, exists only in
ture projects. This has lead to my final thesis on how antique furniture and of course, in schools such as
to dye through veneers and how this can be put in a Malmsten. Even though you can sometimes read in
modern context in a piece of furniture. the popular press about ‘inlays of different species
of wood’ where marquetry is reduced to a breakfast
table topic there isn’t much for a discussion about
marquetry at all.
However, if we consider marquetry as a mean of
decorating, it exists to full extent. Flowers, patterns,
pictures, motifs of all kinds all exist on furniture to-
day. It seems as if the techniques are still used but
with different materials. For instance, we find that
the technique of cutting patterns into the surface is
used frequently leaving the cut open contrary to fill-
ing it with another material. Also, many of the typi-
cal rococo patterns reappear in contemporary fur-
niture.

190
 A contemporary Use of Marquetry

Figure 1-3 Archive table by Rasmus Malbert.

191
Rasmus Malbert

Figure 4 Cabinet ‘Estrad’ by Rasmus Malbert. Figure 5 Cabinet ‘Estrad’ by Rasmus Malbert.

So, why not in the form of marquetry as we know it? In the case of the Archive table I have placed the
Are there no masters of marquetry left? Of course marquetry on the inside of a hinged door in order
there is! Maybe they have been busy practising while to surprise the user. I have used the nature as a main
the world kept turning. Outside of Sweden, marque- source of inspiration but in a more subtle and mod-
try exists on a much larger scale, a glance at Internet est way than my predecessors. It consists of only
shows proof of this. two species of mahogany and one of them has been
treated with fumes of ammonia in order to create
depth and contrast.
For some reason, I keep on using Nature as inspi-
ration. Unlike the Archive table, the marquetry in
Marquetry in my work the cabinet ‘Estrad’ is not subtle at all but violently
I see a gap between what is called ‘applied arts’ and green and messy. This is a way of revolting against
furniture design in Sweden at the moment. This is the ‘Ikea patterns’ that we see a lot of on the market
due to the last years of focus on design and interior today. Rather than to describe Nature as symmetri-
decoration, which successfully have put the design- cally slim and organised I show it wild and rough.
er on a pedestal. The traditional craftsman has sadly As a result of my studies and research in dying
lost not only his/her status but people’s interest as through veneers, the ‘Scarab table’ has a mix of tech-
well. niques and materials. The table top marquetry con-
So, is marquetry a tool that can be used to regain sists of birch veneers, which has been dyed through
the interest for the art of making fine furniture? with spirit based dyes, and pewter. The solid table
How can marquetry be modernised without loosing stand of oak has been stained with a water based so-
its dignity? Well, I don’t have the answers to these lution of commercial stain and the mix of hematein
questions; however, I have tried in my work to think and iron dioxide. The three beetles are put sym-
differently about marquetry and about its original metrically in line with the shape of the table top but
purpose, which is to decorate furniture. lying on a bed of grey stained leaves. The leaves are

192
 A contemporary Use of Marquetry

Figure 6-8 ‘Scarab table’ by Rasmus Malbert.

non symmetrical and non consequent in shape.

These are made in a spontaneous manner where the
shape is decided during the process of sawing. This
was a way to find out whether I could really ‘paint
with wood’ without following a pre made drawing
or plan. The result I find is quite satisfying because
with this way of working, I got a fast result without
losing track of the purpose, which in this case was to
make a bed of leaves. Leaves, as we know, are never
symmetrical or exact copies of one another.
So, where am I to go now? There is no master plan
but to keep on trying to develop and learn more
about the many different ways of cutting a marque-
try. It is my belief that as long as well-taught makers
and designers find marquetry interesting enough
for contemporary and modern furniture, there will
be only progress. And with that progress, the pub- Rasmus Malbert
lic interest will follow. This applies with many old Designer and Maker
techniques and styles. They are thought to be bor-
ing and dusty until that day someone comes along Gothenburg, Sweden
and creates something interesting and spectacular.
Hopefully I can inspire others to create amazing
work with marquetry and hopefully I will get the Tel. +46 (0) 709 205 058
opportunity to develop my skills and dig deeper into E-mail: [email protected]
the art of marquetry. www.rasmusmalbert.com

193
Nigel Bamforth

An Exotic Cabinet
– The fusion of Indian and Persian style

Nigel Bamforth

Historical woodwork in Gujarat, India has a long The Mogul Empire (1483-1707) established a so-
standing tradition dating back to the 15th and 16th phistication and creativity that astounded the early
centuries, where there are references regarding European traveller. Embassies visiting the Mogul
woodwork found in the works of two contemporar- Court in the 17th century record the splendours of
ies, Thomas Herbert (1628) and Tavernier in 1640, the interiors, a style of both architecture and interior
the first commenting on carved wood: that derived from cities as far apart as Constantino-
‘although ancient tradition throughout India, it ple, Mecca and Damascus. This fuelled the integra-
was only found in a regional pocket including Guja- tion of design between Central Asia and the Indian
rat’. Continent that are seen in the surviving secular and
Very little is written about the preservation and domestic objects from both Western India and Sindh
conservation of this early furniture originating in In- and Goa. From these objects we can observe the de-
dia. This industry was founded during the 16th cen- velopment of the late 16th and 17th century Hindu
tury where under the auspices of trade, the Portu- cabinet maker’s skills, much of this alluding direct-
guese interlopers were to acquire and commission ly to Islamic and Christian iconography, termed an
transportable objects that lead to a development Indo-Persian style that blended the artistic creativ-
for the highly crafted cabinets, chests and boxes ity of Islamic iconography with the geometric form.
(Figure 1). These objects were to survive the rigors Those of Persian derivation are seen in classical
not only of time but also the intense variations of designs of meanders and sprays (Figure 2). By the
climatic change with the long and arduous East In- second half of the 17th century this evolved into the
dia Companies voyage home. This was to prove the more regimented rows of cypress bordered within
worthiness of the craftsman’s skills when producing entwined shrubs also clearly recognisable as of Is-
these valued objects. lamic origin.

194
 An Exotic Cabinet

Figure 1 16th century fallfront cabinet of Indian origin.

Figure 2 Cabinet in Indo-Persian style.

195
Nigel Bamforth

Figure 3 Hindu and Jain architecture relief carving.

Not to be confused within this area are the figural furniture and Western styled goods in the 16th and
designs, comprising of motifs which appeared re- 17th centuries. A proficiency one might attribute to
peatedly in Hindu and Jain architecture, integrating timber joinery and construction techniques dating
subjects such as composite beasts, part elephant, back to India’s 6th century Gupta period and the ab-
part lion or part bird engaged in the high and low sorbing influences from the Greco-Roman Empire.
relief carvings (Figure 3). Generally the timbers found on furniture objects
Early furniture acquired by the European travel- is rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia), shisham wood, eb-
ler represents the high levels of the arts that were ony for the stringing and teak for the carcasse. The
to be found within the Empire. Today we see the cul- technique of veneering although unsuited to the
mination of these skills bound together where the transition of temperature and humidity to which
conformity of both the artist and the artisan dictated most parts of India are subjected, was regularly em-
the arts of the period. Terry wrote in his Voyage to ployed for sandalwood, rosewood, ebony, tortoise-
the East Indies that ‘the natives there show much in- shell, horn and ivory. Ivory has been revered for the
genuity in their curious manufactures’. ornamentation of furniture from ancient Egyptian
The Hindu suthar or carpenter was employed by and Assyrian times. More recently the use of ivory in
an overlord Mughul Raja or European coloniser. So- the surviving Islamic-Mughul cabinet can be found
cially bound within his caste, a system that acted as inlayed into the partially veneered fall front or pared
a strong defence against outside forces where over 17th century door cabinet (Figure 4). The interior
a period of two hundred years, technological stag- of these cabinets is generally fitted with ivory in-
nation ensued, this enabled the artisans to retain a laid drawers in single, paired, and triple sequence
certain purity of skills whilst precluding any cross (Figure 5), furniture that originated in the Western
fertilisation of ideas. Despite these restrictions the Coastal Regions of Sindh and in particular in Guja-
artisan was able to excel in initiative if not innovative rat’s trading centres of Surat and Cambay, and fre-
progression, allowing him to maintain high levels of quently manufactured for the foreign markets.
competency within the skill when manufacturing

196
 An Exotic Cabinet

Figure 4 Islamic-Mughul 17th century paired door cabinet, Victoria and Albert Museum.

Figure 5 Islamic-Mughul 17th century paired door cabinet, Victoria and Albert Museum.

197
Nigel Bamforth

Figure 6a Indian ivory work with foliate patterns, 16th century. Figure 6b Mughul style inlay work, possibly inspired by textile embroidery,
17th century.

The progression from the earlier 15th century fall Of the ivory supplied from the Asian continent, that
front cabinet to the two door 16th century cabinet of the islands of Ceylon and Achin (Sumatra), Taven-
allowed the incumbent to display both the exte- ier also proclaimed this ‘has the peculiarity when it
rior and interior as an object of status. The evolu- is worked that it never becomes yellow’. In 1616 the
tion from the earlier ivory foliate confusion of the factors or managers at Surat record Gujarat as being
16th century to the later high Mughul style of set- the best market for the medium sized tusk.
ting rows of flowering plants in alternating patterns The techniques employed in the preparation of
on a plain ground (Figure 6) possibly derived from ivory, Eberhard Fischer recently defined as being a
the textiles of the Deccan and is recognisable from ‘certain procedure of work that is mechanical, re-
carved wood printing blocks. This was also a charac- peated once a principle has been learnt. The carv-
teristic of Shah Jehan’s reign (1627-1658). ings of the carpenters are stereotyped reproductions
Many of the figural representations on cabinets of designs passed on from master to apprentice, in
and inlayed ivory are recognisable as themes com- fact petrified designing. The work of the master-
monly employed in the schools of Indian paintings, carpenter, skilled apprentices or beginners being
generally elements of historical representation that distinguishable as such, at the most in respect of mi-
depict a composition of Mogul courtly scenes (Fig- nor details or negligible omissions’. This is a useful
ure 7). Often a less recognisable interpretation is the statement when observing the irregularities in the
inlay deriving from Southern India where motifs, re- manner these inlays have been carried out.
liefs and ornamental carvings uphold the Sinhalese The art of marquetry in India is known as Sad-
traditions of designs from temples applied to ob- eli work, originating from Shiraz in Persia, travel-
jects, caskets and boxes. These objects bear infinity ling down to the Hindu carpenter of Sindh. The
to ivory employed in a similar form in Renaissance technique for the ivory was to cut into the timber
Europe. veneer to produce the marquetry panels ready for
The sources of this ivory, especially the finest, the application of the ivory for the drawer fronts
came chiefly from Africa. Linschoten, a traveller in etc. The design once established on a plain flat
1598 claimed when speaking of ivory bone, much surface, such as dried skin, was stencilled onto
used in India: ‘They are in great numbers brought the prepared timber carcase by pricking holes in
out of Aethiopia, Mosambique and other places‘. the stencil outline and brushing a fine powder

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 An Exotic Cabinet

Figure 7 Mughul courtesy scene on drawer front. Figure 8 Stencils used for transposing the shapes to the substrate wood.

Figure 9

Figure 10 Chisels used for preparation of ivory pieces.

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Nigel Bamforth

Figure 11 The colour of the lac resin is left in the engrav- Figure 12 Ivory losses on the cabinet represented in figure 4-5.
ings after polishing.

over the surface. This transposed the outline onto the lac incisions, the ivory surface is then polished
the timber surface, the timber was then chiselled (Figure 11).
to produce a shallow relief ready for the ivory inlay Harvard’s Centre for Conservation and Technical
(Figure 8). An alternative method employed in West- Studies analysed similar Lac material with FT-IR,
ern India and also around Vizagapatan, a furniture their findings yielded a spectrum for a natural gum,
centre near Madras, was once the design had been most likely from a tropical plant source, the insolu-
established, a section of ivory was sawn to the re- ble part proved to be interesting as it revealed gum
quired shape then the ivory was placed on the tim- arabic and opium, a gum exuded from the poppy.
ber and the outline scored, the appropriate timber The replacement of the ivory losses for the con-
chiselled out and the ivory adhered to the rebate servation of a Victoria and Albert Museums late sev-
with resinous glue (Figure 9). For the preparation enteenth century ivory inlayed cabinet (Figure 12)
of these materials a basic set of tools were engaged show the leaf and floral designs traced onto paper
such as the drill, saw, chisel and file, these tools were and then glued onto prepared ivory plates and care-
common to the ivory industry and used until its de- fully sawn around with a jeweller’s saw prior to in-
cline in the mid-twentieth century (Figure 10). sertion. To aid the identification of the replacement
The technique of engraving the ivory was com- material and distinguish from the original ivory in
monplace and it was the job of the engraver, the the cabinet (Figure 13), it was decided rather than
kharadis also a member of the suthar caste who engraving directly into the ivory, the design should
finally applied the surface decoration. To achieve be drawn on the surface with a Rotring® architec-
this, the ivory was laid onto the wooden carcase, the tural pen, this being only distinguishable on close
surface then has patterns etched upon them or en- investigation as the original engraving is fairly worn
graved, the term being scraffito. The smaller ivory possibly due to the ivory having been scraped at
pieces were engraved in situ and the larger engraved some stage to flatten the surface.
beforehand. To complete this inlay the Lakh (lac res-
in), the secretion of the lac insect is infused with a
hot iron over the surface of the engraved ivory, the
etched portions being loaded with the charged col-
our and any superfluous lakh is scraped off to reveal

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 An Exotic Cabinet

Figure 13 The patterns on the replacement pieces have been drawn, not engraved, distinguish-
ing the recently added parts from the original.

Figure 14 Ivory and ebony glued together, then sliced.

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Nigel Bamforth

Figure 15 Bandings to be adjusted and glued in place.

The constraining stringing bordering and band- grinder and scraping with a scalpel, a process also
ing the central panels are timber and ivory sawn to that I also felt could further abrade the surfaces.
veneer thickness, and then sawn again to provide Being both hydroscopic and anisotropic the use of
ribbons of timber and ivory for insertion. Sand- an aqueous process is not desirable but in this in-
wiched between the stringing are diagonal inlays stance saliva applied on cotton swabs was not felt to
of generally contrasting ivory and ebony. To manu- be too radical. It produced results safely by working
facture this inlay, ivory and ebony sheets are glued swiftly to avoid penetration of the material with the
then sandwiched in an alternating stack, then sawn satisfactory result of the ivory being cleaned in this
through with jewellers saw to produce an effective manner.
black/white inlay (Figure 14). This is laid against The object is now on display in a gallery where
the stringing, glued in place and so the process pro- there are variations in the climate, this does not ap-
ceeds. Liquid fish glue was used due to its revers- pear to impinge on the stability ivory and timber, a
ibility and long working time that allowed the band- great credit to both the skill and craftsmanship of
ing and inlays to be placed and adjusted (Figure 15). these early cabinetmakers.
Finally the cleaning of ivory is controversial, and
as such discussed in the large amounts of litera-
ture published on the subject. The use of polar sol-
vents toluene, ethanol and acetone are commonly
recommended but are found to bring organic mat-
ter to the surface by leaching action. Others sug- Dr. Nigel Bamforth
gest dilute hydrochloric acid for the removal of Head of Furniture Conservation
stains and accretions, with much of the literature
concluding that all this drastically alters the sur-
Victoria & Albert Museum
face composition and morphology of ivory, leading
London, U.K.
to the formation of amino acid salts and making
the material more hydroscopic, treatments that I
feel should be avoided. Other procedures recom- Tel. +44 (0) 20 79 42 20 97
mend the use of abrasive points in a Dremel® E-mail: [email protected]

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Cover photo: Detail of ‘Scarab table’ by Rasmus Malbert. Photo taken by © Rasmus Malbert.