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Intarsia and Marquetry

(Wood Mosaics)

Intarsia: is the art of creating a mosaic-like picture from pieces of wood. Different species of wood are selected for their color and cut to size using a scroll saw. The woodworker can create an illusion of depth by carefully selecting the grain pattern and direction of each individual piece. 

Marquetry: is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furniture or even seat furniture, to decorative small objects with smooth, veneerable surfaces or to freestanding pictorial panels appreciated in their own right. Marquetry differs from the more ancient craft of inlay, or intarsia, in which a solid body of one material is cut out to receive sections of another to form the surface pattern. The word derives from a Middle French word meaning “inlaid work”.