September 10, 1921 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



35 



Classic Exhibits of Veneer as a Fine Art 



Publicity Campaign of Veneer and Plywood Makers Will Be Rich in Material with Which to Tell 



the Public the True Story of Veneer and Plywood 



By If'tfi. Clendenin 



The widespread inter-^st in the forthcoming campaign of educa- ed in the rude arts of the Anglo-Saxons, Goths, Vandals or early 

 tion and trade extension to be launched this fall by the National Britons. Only solid heavy tables and benches made of solid 



Veneer & Panel Manufacturers Association and the Plywood Man- 

 ufacturers AsEOciation seems to be well sustained by the many and 

 varied classics of veneered furniture brought to light during the 

 course of the research work upon which the campaign is primarily 

 based. 



In this article are shown reproductions of several of these his- 



blocks stand as the representatives of the crude artistry of those 

 peoples." 



Catherine's Chest Outlived Her Head 



Roe tells us that veneer and inlay were first introduced into Spain 

 and England by the Italians in the early I 6th Century. Catherine 

 of Aragon had a traveling chest with veneered panels inlaid with 



toric pieces, for instance, the famous Sheraton Bookcase designed velvet. This chest is still in existence at Kimbolton Castle where 



by Sheraton for "The London Times" and now preserved by the 

 London Times Book Club. It is a veneered and inlaid mahogany 

 break-front and stands nine feet in height by eleven in length. The 

 importance of this classic, like the many others assembled for the 

 P u b 1 ic i t y Com- 

 mittee of the asso- 

 ciation lies in the 

 fact that veneer was 

 very liberally em- 

 ployed by Sheraton 

 as well as by his 

 predecessors of the 

 period schools of 

 England, and the 

 pictures here re- 

 produced will be 

 employed by the 

 advertising c o m- 

 mittee to demon- 

 strate not only to 

 the trade but to the 

 public at large that 

 veneer and veneer- 

 ing is a fine art 

 resting for its artis- 

 tic sanction upon 

 the best practice of 

 the masters of fur- 

 niture craftsman- 

 ship and fine cab- 

 inet work, and by 

 no means a camou- 

 flage alternative by 

 irresponsible and 

 conscienceless pro- 

 ducers. 



In like manner 

 the famous Shearer 

 sideboard executed 

 by that master for 

 the Bank of England 

 is similarly here 

 show^n and will be 

 for the same pur- 

 pose employed in il- 

 lustrating the 

 veneer campaign. 

 Indeed, one great 

 writer on the sub- 

 ject says that "no 

 veneers are record- 



Veneered "Bureau de Campagne" of Napoleon I 



it has remained uncalled for ever since Henry VIII cut of? the 

 lady's head in the lamentable year of I 535. Henry is gone, and so 

 is Catherine, but the veneer is still intact. 



The mode of ornamentation (inlay and marquetry) which found 



its way into our 

 English and Amer- 

 ican classics w^as 

 first introduced by 

 the Venetians from 

 India and Persia, 

 notably in the form 

 o f small caskets 

 and moderate-sized 

 chests — same being 

 a combination of 

 the principles of 

 veneer, marquetry 

 and inlay — much of 

 it built up in lam- 

 inations and then 

 cut away in relief 

 work. The com- 

 mittee has assem- 

 bled many examples 

 of this art showing 

 the antecedents of 

 modern veneer an- 

 tedating the French 

 and English work 

 b y several c e n- 

 turies. The Chest 

 of Cornw^all, date 

 early 1 5th Century, 

 is of undoubted Ital- 

 ian origin, and com- 

 menting upon this 

 period a critical 

 writer says, "By the 

 veneering principle 

 alone can the burrs 

 of mahogany and 

 the curls of satin- 

 wood and the like 

 be shown. The 

 same is true of the 

 burrs in amboyna 

 and walnut. These 

 twist and fracture 

 in the solid piece 

 and are lost. Veneer 

 alone could have 



