by Romulus111VADT » Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:54 am
I sent the pictures to the web master of the website I listed and he said the following-
These are indeed marquetry pictures. They are not "inlayed", but rather "overlayed".
Marquetry pictures are made from pieces of thin wood veneer, cut into the required shapes and then arranged to form a picture or pattern, like a very thin jigsaw, then the whole thing is glued down to a backing board (substrate) to make a hang-able picture. Sometimes, marquetry is applied to furniture (panels on doors and drawers for instance).
These two pictures look like they may be 50 years old or so. Not antique by any means. A lot of this type of picture were made in the early to middle of the last century. IMO, the quality of the workmanship in your two pictures is only average although the veneer selection is quite good. They look more like the work of a learner to me. The gaps between the veneers are quite large in some places (some of this may be due to wood shrinkage over time, but not all of it - as a qualifier, in my collection of marquetry, I have some high quality signed Buschmind and Greteaux pictures that are older than these where the joints are still absolutely perfect). Also, the detail really isn't as good as you might think (sorry!). These are, IMO, fairly simple pictures, maybe done from a pattern book or even possibly from kits that would have included the pattern, woods, simple tools, etc. (and might explain why the veneer selection is good, but the execution isn't).
Since they're not signed in any way that I can see (I did scour the photographs for evidence of a "hidden" signature, but couldn't find any), that would kind of support my hypothesis that they are the work of a learner or hobbyist kit maker. It's just possible they could be factory turned-out pieces made for the tourism trade (most of those were/still are never signed), but the workmanship in tourist pieces is usually much better than this, so I would rule that out.
You didn't say how big they are. I'd guess, from the grain and pores in the wood, they are about 8" x 10" or a little smaller, right?
As for value, I'd have to say that if you like them, hang them up in your house and enjoy them! They're not worth much at all, sorry.
You'd probably be able to get about $30 to $40 each for them on eBay at the most - folk art value only!! Type the word "Marquetry" into the eBay search engine and you'll see about 3 pages or so of stuff that will give you a good idea what the going value is for something like this.
Of course, my advice is worth exactly what you paid for it, that is, nothing! I've a relative newcomer to the world of marquetry. We have some much older and wiser/seasoned marquetarians in our group that more than likely know a lot more about these pictures than I. I'm forwarding my reply to several other AMS officers. If any of them have any other input, or would like to take issue with my analysis, then we'll hear from them, for sure! Have at it gents!!
I forwarded the e-mail to my buddy. I'm afraid he'll not be retiring on the sale of them.....lol.
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