“Improving” the Decoration of Furniture: Imitation and Mechanization in the Marquetry Process in Britain and America, 1850–1900

Abstract

In the 1980s, the application of the laser to cut veneers for marquetry was arguably the first major successful development for improving the process since the nineteenth century. Despite attempts to advance what had been an essentially hand-crafted technique, successful economic applications remained elusive. This article analyzes attempts made since the mid nineteenth-century to apply technologies to “improve” the marquetry process in Britain and America. Inventors intended to increase opportunities for manufacturers to supply decorative furniture for a growing market. Speed of production and the possibility of supplying furniture with greater decoration reflected a desire to address both the economic and consumption agendas. I describe how inventors proposed attempts to mechanize or imitate marquetry often through patented processes, and then consider their success. I argue that applying technologies as knowledge, practice, and material resource to craft works raises a number of issues particularly when there is an element of “art” involved.

Review of periodical literature published in 2012

“…Apart from long‐run studies, the literature explores this topic through specific case histories showing the diversity in historical methods used by historians. Edwards describes how inventors intended to increase opportunities for manufacturers to supply decorative furniture for a growing market in Britain and America and their attempts to mechanize or imitate marquetry through patented processes. D.…”

Evaluating quality of marquetries by applying active IR thermography and advanced signal processing

“…This is then applied to a substrate and fitted to the object to be decorated. Therefore, the marquetry objects to be tested vary significantly by shape, size, structure and thermal properties [50,51]. Optical stimulation of such objects is difficult to use because of their highly non-uniform thermal patterns characterized by uneven absorption coefficient.…”