Veneer descriptions page 11

Veneers, their descriptions and uses in marquetry by Roy Murton

It's been a little while in coming, but here we are now with the 11th page of my veneer descriptions. We will be starting this list of twelve veneers with Pear Pink. This is an old description that has somewhat gone out of fashion these days, but none the less I am including it here for reference purposes. Once again, some of the veneers described here may be a little difficult to acquire these days due to export restrictions imposed by the Governing bodies of the countries of origin concerned, but as I always say, if you can get your hands on some examples of those rare veneers, take advantage of the situation and add them to your veneer stock, you will not regret it.
This page will take us on to veneers numbered 121 to 132 in our lists. The veneers are all available to be seen in our veneer gallery which you can reach by clicking on the link lower down on this page.
Okay then, so let's look at the first veneer for this page - Pear Pink - number 121:

121/. PEAR PINK: Pyrus Communis. European veneer. Also known as Pear Tree. Sometimes called Pink Pear in order to distinguish it from the more yellow type of Swiss pear. This is an easy veneer to work and comes in handy for portraiture flesh tones, especially for the parts of a face in shadow. It has no marked grain effects, although sometimes has a slight mottled figure. Can be useful for floral marquetry and costume effects.

121a/. PEPPERWOOD: Zanthoxylum clava-herculis. Central and southeast United States. Also known as Hercules Club in it's native country. It comes from a small evergreen tree with a smooth grey brown bark. It has some fairly large spiky tipped cork protuberances which provide the odd patterns you will see in our gallery example.
Please Note: Peter White of the Marquetry Society has kindly made available the piece of "Pepperwood" being displayed in our veneer gallery - click the gallery link below to see this interesting veneer.

122/. PEROBA GOLDEN: Paratecoma Peroba. Brazilian veneer. An excellent golden coloured veneer. It is an attractive golden veneer with a stripe effect. Can be up to 10 inches wide (approx 25cms)

123/. PEROBA ROSA: Aspidosperma Polyneuron. This is also another Brazilian veneer. An orange/red straight grained veneer with a streaky figuring with wild markings. It has a smooth texture and is fairly easy to cut. A little rare and expensive. Useful for sky effects and floral subjects.

124/. PEROBA WHITE: Paratecoma Peroba. Brazil. It is also known as Golden peroba, Brazillian maple. This veneer is yellow to gold in colour and has an interlocked grain producing a mottled fiddle back figure. It is fine textured though hard and brittle to cut and is used to depict cornfields, thatch, costume and drapery and also for floral subjects. Care should be taken to see that the strong fiddle back markings do not destroy the perspective, if used in large pieces in the picture.

125/. PINE: Pinus Sylvestris. North European. A creamy coloured veneer with orange stripes. Very popular for furniture making - although rather "knotty"

126/. PINE BALTIC: Pinus Spp. Baltic (obviously!). Golden veneer with a strong deep golden ray pattern. Basically as Pine described above.

127/. PINE SCOTS: Pinus Sylvestria. North Europe. Also known as Swedish pine. It is cream to yellow in colouring. This veneer is straight grained, coarse textured and soft. It cuts easily although the veneer is brittle and may need papering. It is, of course, one of the few soft woods that we actually make use of in marquetry. The crown cut veneers often have a pinkish hard wood which makes it suitable for depicting sky effects, snow scenes, etc. It responds well to sand shading.

128/. PLUM AMERICAN: Prunus Americana & Rosaceae Prunus Americana. This is a veneer that obviously originates from the USA. The veneer can have some striking red, brown and coffee coloured figuring patterns, although the sample shown in our gallery is taken from a uniform brown only section. It is a tricky veneer to cut as you have to ensure that your blade is lubricated with wax constantly otherwise your blade will stick and won't cut cleanly. It has some useful 'cast shadow' applications in it's grain pattern and colouring.

129/. PLUM JAPANESE: Prunus Japonica. As with the American Plum above, this Plum veneer obviously originates from Japan. It is a coffee to tan coloured straight grained veneer. This veneer has a uniform colouring with a close grain pattern.

130/. POPLAR: Populus Spp. & Liriodendron tulipfera. U. S. A. and Canada. It is also known as magnolia, American whitewood, Tulip tree. It is greenish brown and with prominent veins of a lighter colour. It is a smooth textured soft and easy veneer to cut, is very scarce and when available comes in widths of over 12 inches (30cms) wide and is quite costly. This is one of the only natural green veneers in the marquetarians palette and is therefore an indispensable veneer for floral subjects, foliage, foregrounds, bushes, trees, in fact wherever a natural green veneer is required. It is a must for everyone’s veneer collection.

131/. POPLAR CLUSTER: Populus Spp. & Liriodendron tulipfera. U. S. A. and Canada. This is a light coloured veneer with some very interesting effects. You will note that in our example it has a "knot" arrangement that is very similar to "E. T 's" face down in it's bottom right hand corner - just take a look to see what I mean!

132/. PRIMA VERA: Tabetui Donnell - Smithii & Cybistax Donnell - Smithii. Central America. Other names: Roble - Apamate. It is a golden straw coloured veneer with somewhat irregular figuring. It can be used to good effect in marquetry picture skies. The widths vary from 6 to 14 inches (approx 15 to 35 cms)

As I said earlier, this twelve veneers has been a little delayed in appearing, but at long last - here it is.
There are some very nice veneers included in this twelve, some of which are indispensable for your own veneer bank/collection. Don't forget to view the described veneers in our gallery - and don't forget that the veneers depicted there are genuine scans taken from our own veneer collections.
Our next twelve descriptions will start with example number 133 which will be Purple Heart.
Enjoy your marquetry,

Cheers, Roy.

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