Design Trends

Marquetry has had a make over. Bold contemporary graphics have taken over from traditional classical forms to resurrect a craft that was in danger of disappearing. Laser cutting may have replaced the hand carved, but it still takes skilled craftsmen to put this work together. Here are some stunning examples launched in London and Milan that will change your perception of a traditional craft.

 Industry Series by Studio Job.  Using a mix of contemporary and traditional  iconography they draw on the same themes and images used for the Gospel According to Saint Job displayed in Milan last year. Tanks, grenades ,helicopters, insects and butterflies, chimneys billowing smoke, skeletons all feature in this homage to the marquetry methods of André- Charles Boulle.  Dispensing with bright colours used in the Bavarian series the inlays look like fossils of an industrial age. Laser cut pieces of white birds eye maple have been set in Indian Rosewood in a symmetrical layout. We expect symmetry in marquetry but the effect here is like the inkblot patterns of Rorschach. Its no coincidence that these pieces are a commentary on the collective psyche and our concerns with the mass destruction associated with industrialism.

The work can be seen at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery and are sold as limited edition pieces starting at over $30,000.   

Curiously it is a fashion designer rather than a furniture designer who has probably done more to promote the craft. Stella McCartney has repeatedly used marquetry and commissioned UK companies to produce work in different forms for her new stores. For her London store Aryma were commissioned to produce a contemporary angel that glides across the wall. The use of colour and complexity of the piece is an eye opener to the versatility of marquetry. 

In her Milan store, the ground floor is covered in oak parquet arranged in a multicolored pattern created by the Israeli designer Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay for Established & Sons. The store opened in February 2010 and had the official launch during Salone del Mobile last week.

Toby Winteringham’s work made with Patternity is another example of colourful geometry. Pictured above is his Shift coffee table made of sycamore with coloured veneer. Its an exciting and bold use of marquetry and a wonderful example of how a traditional craft can be spliced with contemporary graphics. Shift was launched along with the Patternity Bureau (pictured below) at Salone Satellite this month.

 Since writing this I’ve found a rather wonderful blog on marquetry http://www.miartstudioblog.com/ Do please click through and amire the work.