Intarsia and Marquetry are they same?

[dtoggs]

Besides being a beginner with scrolling,I am some what confused with the terms intarsia and marqetry. I feel there is a subtle difference: intarsia is more of making a picture of close fitting pieces of different colored wood,shading,making illusions of 3d;marquetry is more of making inlays-that can be made up intarsia, or solids such as metals,bones,etc.. Am I understanding this correctly. or are the words synonymus???Thanks,PW

[PiALaModem]

Looking it up in various places confirms my impression of the fuzziness of the distinction. Intarsia refers to "mosaic" of wood where there might be differences in thickness or sculpting or rounding of edges of the individual pieces. Marquetry, it appears, refers specifically to an inlay of veneers in a ground of veneer that is applied to a substrate. Marquetry would be one specific type of intarsia, where all the pieces are flat and of the same (veneer) thickness.

I'm sure there are lots of other opinions on this -- I gathered this from poking around in dictionaries and a fer web sites.

[Max]

I guess there are many different ways to look at each art form. As I see it, marquetry produces a flat, two-dimensional image. Intarsia uses thicker woods and that is sanded to create a more three-dimensional detail. Go to your public library and you will find several books on both forms.

I haven't tried marquetry yet. I dabble in intarsia and am told Judy Gail Roberts is an authority in this art. I have made a few pieces from her patterns and love all her work.

Dan

I say we just call it 'Art' and let go all the confusion.

[Gill]

One important distinction between marquetry and intarsia is the construction method. Intarsia involves pieces of relatively thick wood being cut and then sanded to fit. This can result in a very tight fit but often there is a gap; I'm told 1/64" is acceptable. Marquetry is assembled in one of two ways and no gap is acceptable.

The first marquetry method is the overlap method (now largely obsolete) whereby a piece is cut to shape and partially adhered to a backer board, leaving an opportunity for another piece to be slid underneath. A knife or scalpel is used to trace the edge of the top veneer onto the bottom veneer. The bottom veneer is then removed and cut to shape, the top veneer is finally glued into place and the bottom veneer becomes the template for the next veneer.

The second method is the window method, whereby holes (windows) are cut in waste veneers, the piece of veneer to be inserted is taped underneath, and the edge of the window is used as a template to guide a knife/scalpel to trace the outline of the cut on the piece of veneer to be inserted. Once the ouline cut has been traced, the piece of veneer is removed and cut to shape.

I've sometimes thought that intarsia has a lot to learn from the window method of marquetry.

Gill

[dtoggs]

Yelp,you all confirm that on this one occassion I was right. Its my birthday so anything can happen. I want to lean more to marguetry, and that window method piqued my interest. Thats what David Marks used. Feel free to email me about any of this,I love all aspects of wood working and can talk all day. PW

[CanadianScroller]

I dont know too much about marquetry but when I did the clipboard on my gallery I used the Boule method, one piece on top of the other with the blade cutting at an angle.
There is a school in France that teaches the Boule method. You cant go wrong with this style of inlaying, any error in one layer is matched in the other and there is zero tolerance when the project is assembled.
So many schools of thought..... Gotta love forums

[Neal Moore]

The word intarsia is derived from the Latin verb "interserere" which means "to insert". Intarsia has been an art form since the eighth century where-in wood was sliced into tiles and inlaid forming a type of mosiac. I'm pretty sure Judy Gail Roberts resurrected the term and applied it to her art form. I think it has become the popular word to describe that type of portraiture as a result of her books. Based on the definition alone, I would say that any type of inlay work would be classified as intarsia.

[CanadianScroller]

Originally Posted by Neal Moore

The word intarsia is derived from the Latin verb "interserere" which means "to insert". Intarsia has been an art form since the eighth century where-in wood was sliced into tiles and inlaid forming a type of mosiac. I'm pretty sure Judy Gail Roberts resurrected the term and applied it to her art form. I think it has become the popular word to describe that type of portraiture as a result of her books. Based on the definition alone, I would say that any type of inlay work would be classified as intarsia.

More than just a hatrack there Neal I think you are right about Judy Gail Roberts. She is truly a master who brings new light to wooden inlays

[Gill]

Originally Posted by CanadianScroller

There is a school in France that teaches the Boule method. You cant go wrong with this style of inlaying, any error in one layer is matched in the other and there is zero tolerance when the project is assembled.

Gosh, I don't want to be confrontational, Carl, but...

That method sounds similar to the overlapping method I described earlier. It's fine when you're dealing with relatively large pieces of veneer, but error does creep in when you're dealing with small pieces.

Or have I misunderstood you?

Gill