Straw marquetry

Closet with straw marquetry

Straw marquetry is an artisan technique that uses a pattern of cut and smoothed straw to cover a surface and decorate it.

technology

Two basic techniques are used in straw marquetry, depending on the pattern. After the straws have been cut open and smoothed, they are either glued directly onto the surface to be decorated and cut to size or first glued to paper. The straws glued to paper result in a kind of veneer sheets with which u. a. is possible to insert a pattern in a background. Although the straw of several types of grain is suitable for straw marquetry, nowadays mostly rye straw is used, which is dyed with textile dyes.

history

Little is known about the history of this handicraft .

Preserved objects from the 17th to 19th centuries attest to the existence of straw marquetry in various European countries. In their work, Lison de Caunes and Catherine Baumgartner mention the proven existence of straw marquetry in Italy, England, France and Germany from the 17th to the 19th century and in Switzerland in the 19th century. Where and when exactly this handicraft was created remains unclear. Often, straw marquetry from these centuries is difficult to date, and it is just as difficult to find out where they come from, since most of the time they are neither signed nor dated by their makers.

In Germany, the Hering family's workshop is an exception in this respect, as it can be proven that they made various objects with straw marquetry between 1695 and 1736. These were mostly boxes and boxes. The choice of mythological and symbolic illustrations suggests that they were often gifts of love.

After the straw marquetry was forgotten at the end of the 19th century, it experienced a new heyday in France during the Art Deco era . a. with the work of Jean-Michel Frank and André Groult . Then this handicraft was forgotten again.

present

Nowadays this handicraft, which is mainly offered in the luxury segment, is a rarity. Interior decorators, interior designers, architects, designers and luxury brands are rediscovering straw marquetry on the one hand, and artisans using this technology to create their own creations on the other.

literature

• Barbara Fitch: Decorative Straw Craft. Swiss Straw Work, Embroidery and Marquetry. 1999, ISBN 0-85532-824-X .
• Andrew Renton: Straw Maarquetry Made In Lübeck, Leiden and London By The Hering Family. In: Furniture History 35 (1999), pp. 51–86 ( JSTOR 23408116 )

Web links

Commons : Straw marquetry  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Stefanie von Weitersheim: She turns straw into gold . In: FAZ , September 13, 2016; accessed on November 8, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ^ Catherine Baumgartner, Lison de Caunes: La marqueterie de paille . Editions Vial, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-85101-087-5 , pp. 12-47 .
2. ^ Catherine Baumgartner, Lison de Caunes: La marqueterie de paille . Editions Vial, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-85101-087-5 , pp. 9 .
3. ^ Catherine Baumgartner, Lison de Caunes: La marqueterie de paille . Editions Vial, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-85101-087-5 , pp. 11 .
4. ↑ Elisa Schubert: Where to put all that straw. July 15, 2016, accessed September 9, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Bettina Zöller-Stock (Ed.): Straw, as precious as gold, straw marquetry from the Hering workshop in the St. Annen Museum . Friends of the museums For art and cultural history of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck e. V., Lübeck 2017, ISBN 978-3-942310-21-5 .
6. ^ François Baudot: JM Frank . Editions Assouline, Paris 1998, ISBN 2-84323-060-8 .
7. ^ Catherine Baumgartner, Lison de Caunes: La marqueterie de paille . Editions Vial, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-85101-087-5 , pp. 48-53 .
8. ↑ Guillaume Bounoure, Chloé Genevaux: La paille dans l'architecture, le design, la mode et l'art . Editions alternatives, Paris 2017, ISBN 978-2-07-272647-7 , pp. 98-103, 144-145 .