The Baroque Era - France - 2

Once the basic technique of veneering is mastered, marquetry and parquetry, used in reproduction furniture, decoration become possible. Marquetry can be executed in several ways, but it is essentially the creations of a decorative design by inlaying one veneer onto another. One method is to veneer the solid surface, then to cut out a design and fill the gaps with veneers of contrasting grain or colour. Another way is to glue sheets of contrasting veneers lightly together with sheets of paper between then to form a pack, which is held in a special type of vice. The design is then cut through the entire thickness using a saw, and the individual sheets are separated.
The designs in one wood - say, the darker - can then be fitted into the pattern cut into the lighter and vice versa. Other materials besides wood, such as tortoiseshell, can be used as veneers.

To understand Parquetry it is necessary only to think of a parquet floor. Small squares, rhomboids and other geometric shapes are cut from a variety of contrasting veneers and are assembled, edge to edge, to form a pattern.
Ingenious juxtapositioning can produce remarkable trompe l'oeil effects, making the pattern appear as a pyramid of cubes or a tiled floor seen in perspective.
Veneering has acquired a dubious reputation because it has often been employed to give a showy finish to a shoddy article, but in the hands of a master, it can be raised to a degree of artistry little short of miraculous. This fact was recognised in France early in the 17th century, and the ability to handle veneers - particularly those in the highly fashionable ebony - distinguished the cabinet-maker (ebeniste) from the worker in solid wood, the joiner (menuisier).

When Louis XIII was still a boy, a marriage of alliance was arranged between him and Anne of Austria, who later developed an enthusiasm for Italian styles. This was to some extent balanced by the influence on Louis, when he grew up and ruled in his own right, of his prime minister, Cardinal Richelieu, who was a great collector himself and did all he could to encourage the arts in France.
The craft of veneering was at first employed only on the more important piece of prestige handmade furniture, such as the cabinet-on-stand with its elaborately fitted interior. The upper stage was usually veneered, but the stand was a table-like construction mainly in solid wood, with turned legs of columnar form or twist shape. At first the twist had to be carved by hand, until the turners later learned to produce it on the lathe using a jig and tool. Elaborate variations of double and hollow twists were evolved in the course of the 17th century.

Turning of a similar kind was extensively used on non fitted furniture such as tables and chairs of the Louis XIII period. The styles established continued in many country districts, with little change, throughout the 17th century. Dining tables do not play a leading part in the story of French furniture - at least not until the end on the 18th century. The French for long preserved the old tradition of eating at a simple table spread with a cloth. Small rectangular tables began to be made in greater numbers in the first half of the 17th century and were intended for individual meals, as writing tables or simply for displaying personal possessions. They were made of solid wood - oak, walnut and fruitwood - and were mounted on turned legs with stretchers below. Fairly often, the under-edge of the frieze was shaped. Stools and backstools of the chaise-lorraine type were constructed on much the same lines, and it is probable that many were made to match the tables, for it was at this time that furniture began to be made in suites. The trend became more marked during the reign of Louis XIV.

.......to be continued