What’s the difference between marquetry and parquetry?
This pictured example is by recent ex-student @guyprivettdesigns who completed the One Year Fine Furniture Designer Maker course
When answering this question, most people have a notion of the difference between the two terms. It’s common to think of parquetry in connection with flooring (parque flooring) and marquetry with more decorative pictures in furnishings. There are also a few more distinctions which are worth exploring too.
Parquetry is characterised by the geometric natures of the shapes making up a pattern. The herringbone and chevron repeating patterns are commonly seen in wooden flooring, but the geometric shapes and patterns of parquetry can also be found in furnishings. Regular squares, rectangles, rhombus and triangles created in wood or wood strips are all common parquetry forms – as are star shapes and suns.
Marquetry by comparison is more the creation of an image or picture in wood, usually a recreation of a real image, of scenery, people, animals or objects. Marquetry is a method of decoration more commonly found in furnishings rather than flooring.
The materials used in parquetry and marquetry, can also differ slightly. In parquetry, wood is used predominantly throughout the design, often even solid wood or engineered wood, particularly with flooring. In marquetry, the veneers used are of various species of wood, but are also likely to be complimented with other materials such as mother of pearl or brass for example. In both marquetry and parquetry, contrasting woods with carrying colours, tones and grains of different species enhance the pattern of the picture created. We’ve had students in the past create incredible parquetry box lid designs with geometric designs that trick the eye. We’ve also had students using marquetry to create images of flowers, a repeating squirrel pattern and the skyline of Bath!
Next month we are running our weekend course veneering; parquetry and marquetry which will explore both marquetry and parquetry techniques and applications. It is scheduled on Sat 18 and Sun 19 December 2023.
Why not come and unleash your creativity in marquetry and parquetry, and learn more about the possibilities of using veneer?
