Veneer descriptions page 8

Veneers, their descriptions and uses in marquetry by Roy Murton

At last, after a short delay, I have another twelve veneers for you. We are now up to the Maple family of veneers with this page. The Maples, as you will see, have a surprising amount of variations in their general make up. You will find examples of masses of small knots in one type, going onto "smooth as silk" in other types, so, in one species you will be able to find figuring patterns to perform a multitude of marquetry tasks.
This page 8 will take you from numbers 85 to 96. The full screen sized pictures of the veneers are available as usual in the veneers galleries. Just click on the thumbnails to see the screen sized pictures. And don't forget that as all our veneer pictures are scans from the actual veneers described, the pictures on your screen will be as close to the representation of the veneers as your monitor will allow. So, off we go with veneer number 85:

85/. MAKORE BLISTERED: Mimusops Heckli. This veneer comes from Nigeria. A deep red brown tending towards orange in it's colouring. It is mottled with an effect almost like the flames in a log fire. It exhibits a lovely lustrous appearance.

86/. MANSONIA: Mansonia Altissima. Another of the veneers from Nigeria.This veneer has varying shades from an almost dark bluish purple that goes through mauve shades to orange streaked pink. This veneer has in the past been used to depict sky, seas, foregrounds, mountains and even things like the background in a picture of people running along a beach in the sunset or sunrise. This background version of mansonia is known as “light mansonia”. Usually mansonia is seen as a dark veneer that is good for shadows, especially in strong sunlight. It is fairly easy to cut, and will give you the shadow effects you want.

87/. MAPLE: Acer Saccharum. U. S. A. and Canada. It is cream to pink in colour with a wild wavy grain giving a beautiful mottle, with watermark veins and a quilted figure. The tone can vary between cream and reddish tan depending on its age and degree of natural weathering. This enables the veneer to be treated in various shades of grey from silver to dark grey and is excellent for water effects. It cuts easily but may need flattening as it is inclined to be wavy or buckled. Maple lends itself to sand shading, making this veneer ideal for floral subjects especially roses, costume and drapery. Weathered veneer is useful for rocks and pathways, grey veneer for stonework. It is quite scarce and can be expensive.

88/. MAPLE BIRD'S EYE: Acer Saccharum. North American. A pink shaded cream colour. It has a very special figuring with loads of small knots in it's grain pattern rather like a mass of small eyes that are invaluable for the marquetarian. This veneer has almost one hundred and one uses in portraits, the small knots often depict facial effects better than you could achieve with the usual "cutting in" methods.

89/. MAPLE BIRD'S EYE WEATHERED: Acer Saccharum. Canada and U. S. A. Depending on the degree of weathering this can be from pink to deep tan in colour, straight grained, with veins and often with an attractive mottle. The main feature is, of course, the masses of small dormant buds, which gives the “birds eye” effect. Smooth textured, this cuts easily and is a firm veneer to handle and cut. As the veneer is out of fashion for cabinetwork it has become scarce and expensive (this statement is not necessarily true these days, but I leave it in as it was correct when the original notes were made in the 1950’s). This may be treated as dark grey-wood and is excellent for certain water effects. It is useful for stonework, mountains, rocks, paths, floral subjects.

90/. MAPLE BURR: Acer Saccharum. Canada and U. S. A. This is a soft and easy to cut burr veneer, often with patches of in-growing bark, which usually need to be cut around. It is a joy to work with. It is useful for portraying foliage. It is attractive for spring blossoms and also for autumn tints in conjunction with Amboyna, Thuya and Green Cypress burrs.

91/. MAPLE BUTT: Acer Saccharum. Canada and U. S. A. A golden tan colour. It has the look which is very reminiscent of a suede jacket. In fact I suppose that it would be the perfect veneer to use if you are depicting someone wearing such a piece of apparel in one of your marquetry pictures.

92/. MAPLE FIGURED: Acer Saccharum. Canada and U. S. A. A nicely smooth close textured veneer. It is perfect for the creation of flower petals, especially Roses, and for the depiction of crumpled silk cloth effects. The plainer parts of the full veneer leaf are rather flesh toned and in consequence are very useful in portraiture.

93/. MAPLE QUEENSLAND: Flindersia - Brayleyana. Australia (also known as Maple Silkwood). It is a glorious golden brown colour with a shimmering reflective sheen. A lovely veneer for dark water effects.

94/. MAPLE WEATHERED: Acer Saccharum. Canada and U. S. A. It is cream to pink in colour with a wild wavy grain giving a beautiful mottle, with watermark veins and a quilted figure. The tone can vary between cream and reddish tan depending on its age and degree of natural weathering. This enables the veneer to be treated in various shades of grey from silver to dark grey and is excellent for water effects. It cuts easily but may need flattening as it is inclined to be wavy or buckled. Maple lends itself to sand shading, making this veneer ideal for floral subjects especially roses, costume and drapery. Weathered veneer is useful for rocks and pathways, grey veneer for stonework. Note: The description of this veneer more or less mirrors the description of the standard "Maple" as mentioned above.

95/. MERANTI: Shorea Spp. (also Hopea Spp). Malaya - Philippine Lauan. This veneer has a very smooth looking orange to brown underlying colour and grain pattern. It has a lot of dark rather small "grain" lines in the veneer's patterning which can prove of good use to the marquetarian.

96/. MERANTI RED: Shorea Pauciflora. South East Asia. (Seraya). In colour this veneer is a deep rich reddish brown. It's grain pattern and colouring would make it ideal for depicting brown hair in a marquetry protrait.

Well there we have another twelve of our marquetry veneers for you. This dozen has included a fair amount of veneers that you will find useful with your marquetry portraits - especially the Bird's Eye Maple and Meranti Red, although the availability of that last mentioned veneer may prove somewhat difficult because I believe that it may be one of those "protected" species I mentioned earlier in these veneer description pages. However, if you do manage to find a stock of Meranti Red at a reasonable price, you should certainly include a sample piece of that one in your veneer bank if you get the chance.
We are nearly at one hundred veneers with this page - our next twelve will start with Muninga, so until then - do enjoy and appreciate your marquetry veneers.

Once again, thanks for your interest in these pages, Roy.

Veneer Gallery 1 | Gallery 2 | Gallery 3 | Gallery 4 | Gallery 5 | Gallery 6 | Gallery 7 | Gallery 8

Veneer Descriptions 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17