Chapter I: Front Matter

INTARSIA AND MARQUETRY

OTHER VOLUMES OF THE SERIES

By the same Author

Mural Painting--the Decoration of the Wall Surface by means of
Paint

Mosaic and Marble Inlay for Floor, Wall, and Vault

HANDBOOKS FOR THE DESIGNER AND
CRAFTSMAN

INTARSIA AND MARQUETRY

BY

F. HAMILTON JACKSON

EXAMINER TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION IN PRINCIPLES
OF ORNAMENT

_With Illustrations from Photographs and from Drawings
and Tracings by the Author_

LONDON
SANDS & COMPANY
1903

PRINTED BY
WILLIAM HODGE AND COMPANY
GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH

CONTENTS

PAGE

HISTORICAL NOTES--ANTIQUITY, 1

ITALY IN MEDIÆVAL AND RENAISSANCE TIMES, 8

THE CLOISTERED INTARSIATORI AND THEIR PUPILS, 55

IN GERMANY AND HOLLAND, ENGLAND AND FRANCE, 84

THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE, 104

THE LIMITATIONS AND CAPABILITIES OF THE ART, 118

WORKSHOP RECEIPTS, 133

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE

1. Patterns used in Borders, _facing page_ 8

2. Various Patterns of Borders, " 9

3. Chair Back from S. Ambrogio, Milan, " 10

4. Door of the Sala del Papa, Palazzo Comunale, Siena, " 13

5. The Prophet Amos. Figure intarsia from the }
Sacristy of the Cathedral, Florence, }
6. The Annunciation. Figure intarsia from the } _between pages
Sacristy of the Cathedral, Florence, } 18 and 19_
7. The Prophet Hosea. Figure intarsia from the }
Sacristy of the Cathedral, Florence, }

8. The Nativity. Figure intarsia from the Sacristy
of the Cathedral, Florence, _facing page 20_

9. The Presentation in the Temple. Figure Intarsia
from the Sacristy of the Cathedral, Florence, " 21

10. Panel from Sacristy of S. Croce, Florence, " 23

11. Detail of Frieze from the Sacristy of S. Croce,
Florence, " 24

12. Lower Seats of Choir, Cathedral, Perugia, " 25

13. Upper Seats of Choir, Cathedral, Perugia, " 26

14. One Panel, from Upper Series, Cathedral, Perugia, " 27

15. Two Panels from the Sala del Cambio, Perugia, " 28

16. Frieze from S. Mark's, Venice, " 30

17. Frieze from S. Mark's, Venice, " 32

18. Stalls from the Cathedral, Lucca, " 33

19. Lectern in Pinacoteca, Lucca, " 34

20. Two-leaved Door in the Pinacoteca, Lucca, " 35

21. Stalls at the Certosa, Pavia, " 36

22. Detail of Arabesques, lower Seats, Certosa, Pavia, " 37

23. Panel from S. Petronio, Bologna, " 38

24. Panel from S. Petronio, Bologna, " 39

25. Panel from S. Miniato, Florence, " 40

26. Panel from S. Maria Novella, Florence, " 42

27. Panel from S. Maria Novella, Florence, " 44

28. Panel in Sacristy of S. Pietro in Casinense, Perugia, " 46

29. Panel from Door of Sala del Cambio, Perugia, " 48

30. Panel from lower row of Stalls, S. Maria in
Organo, Verona, " 59

31. Panels from Monte Oliveto Maggiore, now in
the Cathedral, Siena, " 60

32. Frieze from Monte Oliveto Maggiore, " 62

33. Panel from S. Mark's, Venice, " 68

34. Panel from Door in Choir of S. Pietro in
Casinense, Perugia, " 74

35. Lunette from Stalls in Cathedral, Genoa, " 77

36. Panel from lower row of Stalls, Cathedral, Savona, " 78

37. Panel from the Ducal Palace, Mantua, " 80

38. Panel from the Rathaus, Breslau, 1563, " 84

39. Panel from Church of S. Mary Magdalene, Breslau, " 86

40. Pilaster Strip from the Magdalene Church, Breslau, " 87

41. Panel from S. Elizabeth's Church, Breslau, " 88

42. Lower Panel of Door, 1564--Tyrolese, " 90

43. Top of Card Table in the Drawing-room, Roehampton
House; Dutch, 18th Century, " 92

44. Panelling from Sizergh Castle, now in Victoria
and Albert Museum, " 93

45. Cabinet with falling front, in the Drawingroom,
Roehampton House, " 94

46. Cabinet belonging to Earl Granville. Boulle
work of about 1740, " 96

47. Top of Writing Table in the Saloon, Roehampton
House. Period of Louis XV., " 97

48. Encoignure, signed J. F. Oeben, in the Jones
Bequest. Victoria and Albert Museum, " 98

49. Panel from back of Riesener's bureau, made
for Stanislas Leczinski, with figure of Secrecy, " 100

50. Roundel from bureau, made for Stanislas
Leczinski, King of Poland, now in the
Wallace Collection, " 102

51. Antonio Barili at work, by himself, " 104

52. Panel from the Victoria and Albert Museum, " 106

53. Panel from S. Maria in Organo, Verona, " 122

54. Panel from S. Maria in Organo, Verona, " 126

55. Panel from S. Pietro in Casinense, Perugia, " 130

GENERAL PREFACE TO THE SERIES

If there is one quality which more than another marks the demand of the present day it is the requirement of novelty. In every direction the question which is asked is not, "Is this fresh thing good? Is it appropriate to, and well-fitted for, its intended uses?" but "Is it novel?" And the constant change of fashion sets a premium upon the satisfaction of this demand and enlists the commercial instinct on the side of perpetual change. While there are directions in which this desire is not altogether harmful, since at least many monstrosities offend our eyes but for a short time, a full compliance with it by the designer is likely to prove disastrous to his reputation, and recent phases in which an attempt has been made to throw aside as effete and outworn the forms which have gradually grown with the centuries, and to produce something entirely fresh and individual, have shown how impossible it is at this period of the world's history to dispense with tradition, and, escaping from the accumulated experience of the race, set forth with childlike _naïveté_. Careful study of these experiments discloses the fact that in as far as they are successful in proportion and line they approach the successes of previous generations, and that the undigested use of natural _motifs_ results not in nourishment but in nightmare.

The object aimed at by this series of handbooks is the recall of the designer and craftsman to a saner view of what constitutes originality by setting before them something of the experience of past times, when craft tradition was still living and the designer had a closer contact with the material in which his design was carried out than is usual at present. Since both design and craftsmanship as known until the end of the 18th century were the outcome of centuries of experience of the use of material and of the endeavour to meet daily requirements, it may be justly called folly to cast all this aside as the fripperies of bygone fashion which cramp the efforts of the designer, and attempt to start afresh without a rag of clothing, even if it were possible. At the same time it is not intended to advocate the direct copyism of any style, whether regarded as good, bad, or indifferent. Some minds find inspiration in the contemplation of natural objects, while others find the same stimulus in the works of man. The fashion of present opinion lays great stress upon the former source of inspiration, and considers the latter heretical, while, with a strange inconsistency, acclaiming a form of design based upon unnatural contortions of growth, and a treatment which is often alien to the material. It is the hope of the author to assist the second class of mind to the rivalling of the ancient glories of design and craftsmanship, and perhaps even to convert some of those whose talents are at present wasted in the chase of the will-o'-the-wisp of fancied novelty and individuality. Much of what appears to the uneducated and ill-informed talent as new is really but the re-discovery of _motifs_ which have been tried and abandoned by bygone masters as unsuitable, and a greater acquaintance with their triumphs is likely, one would hope, to lead students, whether designers or craftsmen, to view with disgust undigested designs indifferently executed which have little but a fancied novelty to recommend them.

It is intended that each volume shall contain an historical sketch of the phase of design and craft treated of, with examples of the successful overcoming of the difficulties to be encountered in its practice, workshop recipes, and the modes of producing the effects required, with a chapter upon the limitations imposed by the material and the various modes of evading those limitations adopted by those who have not frankly accepted them.