Series editors' preface - Wood Tools

34 Conservation of Furniture
or by substituting other materials in place of
metal and shell.
Marquetry was reproduced by embossing or
printing decorative designs onto paper that
were then transferred to woods and varnished
over. This process was patented as xylography.
Another method called diachromatizing used
stains to produce a pattern which penetrated
the wood. Ready-made marquetry, mouldings
and carvings were available from wholesale
suppliers in increasing numbers throughout the
period.
The revival of interest in pietre dure, where
coloured stones were let into an ebony or
stone face, continued a tradition that started in
Italy in the seventeenth century.
Tunbridge Ware Already known in the eighteenth
century, the technique of the process
was changed in the early part of the nineteenth
century. The method used was to glue a selection
of thin strips or rods together in a predetermined
way. Once these bunches were dry,
they would be sawn transversely to reveal a
pattern that could be laid down as a veneer.
The mini mosaic effect was best suited to small
items, such as trays, boxes, tea caddies and
small table tops (Figure 1.22). It is thought that
only woods in natural colours were used.
Finishing Graining, staining and marbling
were all processes that were well known to
furniture-makers and were practised widely in
the first half of the nineteenth century. These
processes enjoyed a revival not only for cost
saving reasons, but also because regular supplies
of timber were interrupted by the Anglo-
Figure 1.22 Tunbridge Ware writing box, English,
1830–70
French wars. Graining was acceptable and
strongly recommended by commentators on
interior decoration. However, by the mid-century
these practices were criticized as deceits,
and towards the end of the century were only
associated with low-grade furniture.
The finishing processes were explicitly
described in contemporary trade manuals, the
most important being Nathaniel Whittock’s The
Decorative Painters’ and Glaziers’ Guide.
Staining was important as a finishing process
and it was acknowledged that the method was
especially suited to bulk treatments. Whittock
mentions how chairs are dipped in large copper
vats and allowed to hang and dry. The dye
for this process was made from Brazilwood
chips and pearlash (potassium carbonate).
Other methods included the use of alkanet dye
mixed with linseed oil, as a colour enhancer
and reviver for mahogany. During the 1820s
French polish was introduced. This was originally
designed to give a thick transparent coating
which would impart a highly glazed effect
without changing the colour of the timber. By
the mid-century the process had acquired a
bad name because staining caused by the polish
obliterated the natural colours of the wood
and stopped it ‘ageing’ naturally.
Organization of trades and
manufacturing
In 1803, Sheraton could say that the furniture
trade was ‘one of the leading mechanical professions
in every polite nation in Europe’. It is
still often considered that the so-called
‘Industrial Revolution’ brought furniture-making
into a factory situation during the nineteenth
century, which, combined with the use of
machines, dramatically changed the way furniture
was made over the period. This is not the
case, although there were undoubtedly some
changes. The enduring nature of the trade and
its attitudes to change were such that new
methods were only espoused if they contributed
to profitability. Technological change
was not necessary while the older ways met the
demand. This is not to say that factories did not
exist, simply that there was no dramatic change
from one system to another; it was rather a
gradual process that is still not really complete.
In England the rise of wholesalers and retail
outlets which gradually took over from the
comprehensive manufacturing firms was a