Art Furniture, it is highly probable you are referring to Art Marquetry (often misspelled as Marketery).

Marquetry is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer (thin slices of wood) to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs, or pictures. It is essentially “painting with wood.”

Instead of using pigments, the artist uses the natural grain, color, and texture of different tree species (and sometimes metal, shell, or bone) to create an image.

Here is a minute, detailed breakdown of the world of Art Marquetry.

1. The Core Concept: The Veneer

Marquetry is not done with solid blocks of wood; it is done with veneers.
Thickness: Veneers are extremely thin slices of wood, traditionally $1/16$ inch ($1.5$ mm) thick in the 17th century, but modern veneers are paper-thin, often $1/42$ inch ($0.6$ mm).
The “Palette”: The marquetarian collects wood like a painter collects tubes of paint.
Ebony: Deep black (used for outlines).
Holly: Bright white (used for highlights).
Padauk: Red/Orange.
Walnut: Deep browns.
Purpleheart: Vibrant violet (though it turns brown with UV exposure over time).

2. Marquetry vs. Parquetry vs. Inlay

These terms are often confused in the marketplace.

Term Definition Subject Matter

Marquetry Creating a picture or complex design using veneers. Flowers, birds, landscapes, figures.
Parquetry Creating a geometric pattern using veneers. Cubes, diamonds, herringbones (like a floor).
Inlay Cutting a void into a solid piece of wood and filling it with a contrasting material. Lines, keyholes, dots.

3. The Major Techniques

How do you cut tiny pieces of wood so they fit together perfectly with no gaps (the “kerf”)?

A. The Boulle Technique (Stack Cutting)

Named after André-Charles Boulle, cabinetmaker to Louis XIV.
The Process: You glue a sheet of brass and a sheet of tortoiseshell (or two different woods) together into a “sandwich” (packet). You cut the design through both layers at the same time using a fret saw.
The Result: The pieces fit perfectly because they were cut simultaneously.
Bonus: You get two complete images:
1. Première Partie (First Part): Brass pattern on Tortoiseshell background.
2. Contre-partie (Counterpart): Tortoiseshell pattern on Brass background.

B. The Double Bevel Cut (Conical Cutting)

Used to eliminate the gap left by the saw blade (the kerf).
The Physics: The saw table is tilted at a slight angle. When you cut the inner piece (the puzzle piece) out of the background, the angle makes the inner piece slightly larger at the bottom than the top.
The Fit: When the piece is pushed into the hole, it wedges tightly, closing the gap completely.

C. The Window Method

The artist cuts a “window” into the background veneer using a scalpel or knife, then places the contrasting veneer behind the window and uses the window edges as a template to cut the insert.

4. Sand Shading: Creating 3D Volume

This is the secret weapon of high-end marquetry. How do you make a flat piece of wood look like a curved flower petal?
The Process: The artist takes a tiny piece of light-colored veneer and dips the edge into a pan of hot silica sand.
The Effect: The heat singes (scorches) the wood. It creates a perfect gradient from black (burnt) to brown to natural wood.
The Result: When assembled, these gradients create the illusion of shadows, depth, and 3D volume without using any dye or paint.

5. Tools of the Trade

The Chevalet de Marqueterie (Marquetry Donkey): A specialized wooden bench invented in France. The artist sits on it and uses their feet to operate a clamp that holds the veneer, while their hand moves a horizontal saw blade. It allows for incredibly precise control.
Fret Saw: A U-shaped saw with a hair-thin blade.
Veneer Press: Once the picture is assembled, it is fragile. It must be glued to a solid substrate (MDF or Plywood). A press applies tons of pressure to flatten the veneers and ensure the glue bonds.

6. Historical Styles & Masters

A. Intarsia (Italian Renaissance)
The ancestor of marquetry. Solid blocks of wood were inlaid into panels to create “trompe-l’œil” (trick of the eye) scenes, often depicting open cupboards with books and scientific instruments in churches.

B. The Roentgens (18th Century Germany)

Abraham and David Roentgen were the mechanics of marquetry.
Style: Incredible mechanical desks with secret drawers. Their marquetry was so detailed it looked like oil painting (“Peinture in Wood”). They mastered “micro-marquetry,” using thousands of tiny pieces to depict scenes of Chinese figures and architecture.

C. Art Nouveau (Emile Gallé)

Gallé used marquetry to depict nature. He incorporated the “faults” in wood (knots, rot) to represent dying leaves or insect wings, embracing the Wabi-Sabi of the material.

7. Identifying Quality (Valuation)

For your marketplace, here is how you tell “Cheap Commercial Marquetry” from “Fine Art Marquetry”:

1. Gap Analysis: Look closely at the lines between the woods. Are they filled with black putty | filler? That is poor work. The wood should touch wood.
2. Grain Direction: A master uses the direction of the wood grain to imply form (e.g., the grain on a leaf should flow from the stem to the tip).
3. Complexity: How many species of wood are used? Cheap marquetry uses one or two woods and dyes the rest. Fine marquetry uses natural exotic woods for color.
4. Saw Marks: In Boulle work (brass/tortoiseshell), rough or jagged lines indicate hasty cutting.

Tesserae: The individual small pieces of wood.
Chatoyancy: The shimmer | cat’s-eye effect in wood grain.
Ebonized: Wood dyed black to mimic Ebony.
Cartoon: The line drawing | pattern used to cut the design.
Stringing: Thin lines of inlay used as borders.

This concludes our encyclopedia of art. We have covered:
1. Mediums: Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Charcoal, Pastel.
2. Techniques: Hatching, Sketching, Glazing, Impasto.
3. Objects: Sculpture, Furniture, Ceramics.
4. Craft: Marquetry, Joinery.
5. History: Renaissance to Photorealism.

Art Marquetry