Louis XVI Commode decorated with marquetry. Doc Maurice Ségoura Paris.
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In cabinet making, marquetry consists of applying small flat pieces of wood of different colours to a surface to make figurative compositions. In 18th century France, cabinet makers took advantage of imports of exotic woods - rosewood, Brazilian rosewood, violet wood, mahogany, sandalwood, etc. - to apply marquetry to valuable pieces of furniture. In Italy, "Intarsia", a technique very like marquetry, consisted of inlaying small flakes of wood into a wooden structure.
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Frisage is a special marquetry technique: small flakes of precious woods are cut diagonally and positioned so the veins are reversed on different panels and with geometric patterns creating interesting optical effects. Around 1720 "diamond" and "butterfly wing" effects were achieved in this way. Antoine Gaudrau, Pierre II Migeon, Mathieu Criaerd all used the technique in the 18th century and also highlighted the concentric circles formed by the tree's age.
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The technique of veneering, used before that of marquetry, consists of sticking sheets of precious woods onto the structure of a piece of furniture. Ebony was one of the first woods to be used in this way. In France, ebony, the only wood heavier than water gave its name to the craftsmen who used it - the "ébénistes" or cabinetmakers. Sawn by hand, the sheets of wood differed in thickness by more than one millimetre. Cut using a reciprocating power saw, their thickness varies by no more than 5 to 8 tenths of a millimeter and today by less than one tenth.
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