Know Everything About Different Kind of Woods Decoration
Woods are
decorated with carvings and polishing, embossing, etc. This gives the
woods a different looks and enhanced its values. These can make the
finished goods even more expensive depending on their styles and the
type of designs or carves that are made on the woods.
Carving
The earliest
way of decorating a wood article was perhaps by means of carving. In
the case of oak, the hardness of the timber severely limited the
craftsman, but the coming of walnut was more encouraging. It lent
itself to the chisel readily, and in some instances the carving was
decorated additionally with gilding to give a very rich effect.
Pieces treated
in this manner, partly polished wood and partly gilt, are known as
'parcel-gilt'. Mahogany
was the carver's delight, and he was able to show with it all his
skill. In addition, fretting was applied sometimes to mahogany
pieces. This took two forms: the wood was pierced in a pattern
with a fine saw, or the effect of a thin pierced sheet stuck down on
the surface was imitated by carving. This latter type is known as
'semi-fret', and if often to be seen in Chippendales designs.
One other wood
must receive a mention: pine. This was in use from the end of the
seventeenth century, and its texture provided an excellent medium for
carving. In most instances this was concealed under gilding or paint,
and almost all the elaborately carved mirror-frames
and tables of the eighteenth century will be found to have been made
from this timber.
Silver and gold
Towards the
end of the seventeenth century a certain amount of furniture was made
of which all or most of the surface was covered with embossed sheets
of silver.
A famous suite
of this description, consisting of mirror-frame, candle stands and a table
is at Windsor Castle; there is another at Knole, Kent, and yet
another was sold by auction in 1928 for no less than 10,100 guineas.
At about the same period, in imitation of gold, pieces of furniture
were painted with successive thin coatings of a plaster composition
called 'gesso' (pronounced 'jesso'), carved in what appear like
embossed patterns, and then spread with gold leaf.
Later, in the
eighteenth century, the gesso was painted on carving and followed the
design of the woodwork itself. Tables, and even chairs, were treated
with gilding, but the most popular furnishings
to be decorated in this manner were mirror-frames.
The gold leaf,
pure gold beaten into small flat sheets thinner than tissue paper,
was made to stick to the plaster surface by means of a type of gum or
by oil-size. The former, which needs greater preparation of the
groundwork is called 'water-gilding', and can be highly polished
afterwards; the other, 'oil-gilding', is a simpler method and the
work cannot be burnished.
The hardness
of the oak timber severely limited the craftsman, but the coming of
walnut was more encouraging for them. And Mahogany was the carver's
delight, and he was able to show with it all his skill. The end of
the seventeenth century saw the furniture
embossed with sheets of silvers and gold. |
