Straw marquetry is a craft very similar to that of wood
marquetry
Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of wood veneer, veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns or designs. The technique may be applied to case furn ...
, except that straw replaces the
wood veneer. It is thought to have first been practised in the East; examples were brought to England in the 17th century.
To mimic the varying shades of wood veneer,
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
or
oat straw has to be split, then soaked in cold, warm, or hot water. The strips are then ironed, and there will be a variety of tones from pale gold to deepest dark brown.
There are accounts of nuns in France and Switzerland making a variety of items using straw marquetry.
The most famous straw marquetry was practised by prisoners of war from the
Napoleonic wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. Dartmoor and other prisons had been built for them; the prison most famous for straw marquetry was Norman Cross,
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...
.
Easter eggs are decorated with
straw
Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...
applique, especially in Eastern European countries.
Geometric shapes, stars and flower motifs are the most common themes. There is a slight difference in the way the straw is prepared, however; for marquetry, the straws are soaked, split and ironed; for
egg decoration the straw is not ironed.
See also
*
Corn dolly,
Straw
Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...
,
Oat,
Wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
,
Barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
,
Rye,
Easter egg
Photo gallery
Image:StrawMarquetryFlowers.jpg
Image:MarquetryHouse.jpg
Image:MarquetryEggs.jpg
Image:Ukrainian Straw Easter Eggs Ukrainian Museum of Canada Ontario Branch.jpg
References
Visual arts genres
Straw art
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