Wood intarsia. Intarsia - the ancient art of wood mosaics

Intarsia is the process of inlaying wood onto wood. The technology is such that in the recesses of the wooden base, inlays are also made of wood, which differ from the base in texture and color. Quite often, intarsia is called inlay. This is not a mistake, although the latter concept implies a more expanded list of materials used as tabs.

The implementation of the intarsia technique involves a tight fit of individual wooden plates that make up the pattern along the edges. Then they are glued together and placed into a pre-prepared recess in the surface of the product, equal to the thickness of the set. The front side of the records is carefully smoothed and polished, and Bottom part It is left rough for better adhesion to the base.

From the history. Intarsia first appeared in Ancient Egypt. The development of this type of decoration was due to the lack of abundant forest plantations; as a result, wood was imported from other countries and was expensive. Therefore, wood began to be used along with precious and semiprecious stones, Ivory. Due to ease of processing, richness decorative effects, strength of connection with the base and organic fusion with the surface of the product, wood gradually began to prevail over other materials used by craftsmen when decorating wooden products.

Intarsia has reached high level V Ancient Rome and Greece. Sarcophagi, made of cedar, yew and cypress, were decorated with ornaments of complex shapes using boxwood, maple, ironwood, holly and dogwood. To change the color of the wood, it was subjected to special treatment: impregnation with oil or alum, boiling in paint.

The greatest flowering of intarsia occurred during the Renaissance in Italy. Thus, in the middle of the 15th century, at least 80 workshops operated in Florence, producing products with mosaic decorations. The main motifs are plant and geometric patterns. Dark wood species were used as a background, and light wood species were used for the design, or vice versa.

Over time, ornamental compositions became more complex, became multicolored, and perspective images of streets, cities, some scenes from everyday human life, and historical events appeared. For story sets, engraving, etching, and firing of wood were used to change its color.

Further, intarsia began to be used in France, Germany and other countries of Central Europe. Thus, in Germany in the period of the 16th - early 17th centuries, interiors were decorated with mosaic panels public buildings. The craftsmen quite often used engraving; elements made of ivory and other materials were included in the image.

The peculiarity of intarsia is that the wood of the product acts as a background for mosaic decorations. Due to the complexity and labor-intensive nature of inlaid inlay technology, it was used purely for decorating expensive products that were made from valuable wood species. The finishing of all surfaces was given Special attention. The background was never inferior in beauty to the decoration. Products decorated with intarsia belonged to the richest people.

There are several types of mosaic techniques. You will learn about some of them from this article. You can also try making a mosaic on pre-prepared wood using the intarsia technique with your own hands, step by step wizard the class will help you with this.

We create a mosaic on wood with our own hands using the intarsia technique

One of the types of decorative and applied art is called intarsia. This is not an easy technique, but once you master it, you can create amazingly unusual things. Products self made serve wonderful decoration interior Choosing wood for work different colors and shades, then cut into thin strips, immediately cutting off all defective areas. The resulting strips are glued together into sheets required sizes, from which fragments of the pattern for the mosaic are subsequently cut out. Then the details of the pattern are tightly adjusted and glued to each other. Upon completion of the work, the front side of the product is thoroughly polished. Using this technique you can make a panel like this.

But in order to create masterpieces, novice craftsmen first of all need to learn how to use a cutter. Hold it easily, like a fountain pen or pencil, and then things will get going. Now start with an easier task.

Making a wooden butterfly according to a lesson for beginners

This lesson is for beginners. Making such a butterfly will require a little effort, but it will look beautiful on your furniture or on the wall. The butterfly is made using the intarsia technique.

• Pieces of wood of different colors and shades.
• Sheets of paper for sketches.
• Scissors.
• Pencil.
• PVA glue.
• Pushpins or a can of glue.
• A piece of plywood.
• Jigsaw.
• Emery with a wheel for polishing the product.

1)Especially for beginners, a simple ready-made diagram is attached. The arrows on it indicate the direction of the wood fibers; all that remains is to apply the shades of the intended pattern, according to the prepared material. Print out the pictures, several copies at once, from which you will cut out a pattern for each part separately.

2) Cut out patterns from paper and glue them to the wood according to the color and direction of the fibers (before starting work, you should thoroughly clean the boards from dust), then start cutting out the parts. Try to cut carefully so that the pieces fit perfectly together. The slightest inaccuracy can ultimately lead to a large error.

3) Glue all the parts that are on the same level according to the diagram together and process them at the same time.

4)Smooth the outer edges, polish the parts and glue them together. Then cut out the backing from a piece of plywood and glue the finished butterfly onto it.

5) Check the surface of the product to ensure that there are no flaws left on it, if necessary, polish it again and varnish it. The butterfly is ready.

The method of making block mosaics requires some effort if everything is done by hand. But now this process has been mechanized, and products made using this technique are becoming increasingly popular.

Before starting work, first draw a sketch. Then blocks are assembled from bars or plates of wood of different shades, gluing them together according to a given pattern. After which, the finished bars are cut into fragments across the fibers. Thus, the same pattern is indicated on the end part of the blocks. Finished blocks are glued to the surface of a wooden substrate or finished products; they can also be inserted into recesses to create a pattern.

There is a special type of mosaic called wood inlay. Initially, inlay was made by gluing fragments of thin plywood various tree species. A little later, instead of plywood, they began to use various materials – ivory, metal, stones, etc. The pattern was created by inserting figures into wooden surface. Products made using this technique look very impressive.

Craftsmen, to create a more picturesque effect, did not have enough natural shades of wood and began to use various techniques wood processing - pickling, firing, painting in the desired color. The patterns have become more vibrant and picturesque.

Another type of applied art is wood carving. If you master the basic techniques for performing certain elements, then carving will seem much easier to you than it seemed at first glance. Nice decoration carved paintings, furniture and other interior items can become interior decoration walls, external finishing at home - openwork lace made of wood can turn your home into a mansion, as in this photo.

Video on the topic of the article

Select wood of different colors. Based on, for example, wooden table top they cut out a place where they then inserted suitable pieces of wood of different colors and patterns to create a specific design.

The parts that form the pattern are tightly fitted to each other, glued together and inserted into the object to be decorated. Then outer side The set is carefully polished.

Like inlay, intarsia originated in the Ancient East, in Egypt, and reached a very high level in Ancient Greece and in Rome, where ornaments were made from maple, boxwood, holly, ironwood, and dogwood.

But over time, this technique has been simplified. Labor-intensive intarsia was replaced with the marquetry technique. The material for marquetry is natural veneer, that is, single-layer plywood made of wood of various species.

Using the example of a butterfly, we will consider the main stages of manufacturing using the intarsia technique.

First, we print out a drawing diagram according to which we will cut out the details of the image (Fig. 1). For convenience, on each fragment of the diagram we mark the color of the wood and the direction of the grain. Print out the diagram in several copies at once, since each color of wood will need a separate sheet.

We paste pieces of paper with fragments of the diagram onto pieces of wood selected by color (Fig. 2). It is better to do this on a dust-free surface using glue in an aerosol can Spray 3M 75. This glue is intended for short-term fastening of lightweight materials. Allows repeated re-gluing, which is used in silk-screen printing, attaching diagrams, advertisements, etc.

Then we adjust the parts to each other (Fig. 5).

We glue the parts if, according to the conditions of the scheme, they should be on the same level and processed together (Fig. 6).

We smooth out the outer edges of the parts and polish them (Fig. 7).

We glue all the parts together (Fig. 8).

Figured image, patterns from wood plates, different in texture, color, embedded in a wooden surface. Intarsia is done in the same way as inlay.

Features of intarsia: with intarsia, individual wooden plates that make up the pattern are tightly fitted along the edges, glued and inserted into the array of the object being decorated, where cutting tool recesses equal to the thickness of the set are selected in advance. Front side the plates are carefully smoothed and polished. The bottom surface is left rough for better adhesion to the base. With intarsia, solid wood of the product acts as a background for mosaic decorations.

Intarsia reached its peak during the Renaissance in Italy. Only in Florence in the middle of the 15th century. There were more than 80 workshops. Mosaics were used mainly to decorate church furniture and utensils. Decoration methods included geometric and floral patterns. Dark wood species were used for the background, light wood for the design, and vice versa. Intarsia originated in ancient Egypt, where wood with a beautiful texture and bright color began to be used for inlay wooden products along with ivory, metal, mother-of-pearl, stones.

The ancient Greeks, in order to change the color of wood, soaked it in oil, alum, and boiled it in paint. Sarcophagi were also made from cypress and cedar. They were decorated with ornaments of plant forms, using boxwood, maple, ironwood, and dogwood.

With the development of skill, ornamental compositions became more complex. Polygonal perspective images of city streets and scenes from Everyday life, historical events. In the production of plot sets, engraving, etching, and wood burning began to be used. From Italy, intarsia penetrated into France, Germany and other countries of Central Europe.