entry
2003
The Tarsia Sorrentina
© by Herman Chanowitz
Tarsia (also intarsio) -or marquetry-
refers to the peculiar and fascinating process of
making in-laid wood (or wooden mosaic) products. It is
both a craft and an art. The craft mass produces
plaques, jewel boxes, serving tables, trays, and
gaming tables for the tourist trade. The art produces
the one-of-a-kind pictorial design which is the result
of the artist's sensitivity and creativeness. I have
had the good fortune to meet and discuss intarsio with
Giuseppe Rocco, one of the foremost intarsio artists
of Sorrento, and what follows is based on that
discussion.
Historically, in
the late 16th and 17th centuries, the major industries
in Sorrento were agriculture and shipbuilding. However,
these industries declined, and by the 18th and early
19th centuries the major industries were silkworm
farming, mulberry growing and woodworking furniture. The
silk industry catering to the tourist couldn't compete
with Northern Italy, however, and gave way to lemon and
orange orchards. The subsequent loss of trade was a
catastrophe for the local economy, and there was a
strong effort to find another industry to fill the gap.
Actually, during
the late 16th century the French and Northern Italians
had developed ornate furniture decorated with wood
mosaics, and the 19th-century Sorrento woodworking
artisans were aware of this type of furniture. Sorrento,
because of its natural beauty and climate, had always
attracted tourists, and the archeological excavation of
Pompeii and Herculaneum were a major attraction with
tourists, who were then eager to find souvenirs of what
they had seen at those sites. Thus, a couple of
imaginative woodworking Sorrentinos recognized that the
frescoes on the walls of the ruins lent themselves
beautifully to reproduction in intarsio on plaques using the wood
from the lemon tree for white or tan color and the wood
from the nut tree for brown or grey ( the same colors
used on the frescoes). These plaques turned out to be
very popular with the tourists and so the intarsio
industry was born.
Briefly, the method
of intarsio
involves transferring a mosaic of wood onto a wooden
base. The artist first prepares a full-scale accurate
pencil drawing of the design to be transformed into
intarsio. Next, using transparent paper, the original
design is recopied. The artist modifies the drawing into
a mosaic form, keeping in mind that each piece will be
made of wood of unique color and grain structure and
that it is the contrast between color and orientation of
grain that brings the design into relief. The original
transparency is then used to make transparent working
copies which are subsequently destroyed during the
process of cutting the mosaic pieces of wood.
In the true intarsio art form,
touching up the wood by painting is not permitted; all
coloring and design detail must be the natural wood
color and grain structure. The artist has about 50
different types of wood to select from with a color
variation from almost pure white as in the wood of the
lemon tree to the black of ebony, including all the
colors of the rainbow in between. Only the trunks of the
trees are used and the wood is imported from all over
the world. The color of the wood is derived from the
multitude of minerals found in the soil where the trees
grow. The tree trunks are treated and aged for a couple
of years to remove the moisture and then cut into thin
slabs 0.7 millimeters thick. The slabs are classified
according to color and grain structure and stored until
needed.
To cut the
individual mosaic pieces, the appropriate slabs are
selected according to color and grain; they are stacked
and a jig-saw is used to cut the individual pieces using
the working transparency pattern. Next, the pieces are
assembled and glued to a newspaper sheet like a jigsaw
puzzle.The sheet with the design is glued, paper up, to
the base (table, jewel box, plaque, etc.) and the paper
is removed using very fine sandpaper. What remains is
the mosaic design glued to the base. This is then
varnished, polished or coated with a polyester depending
on the desired finish.
The craft is very
labor-intensive with very little automation. The design
on a small plaque may have from 70 to 150 pieces while a
large intricate design may have several thousand. The
industry consists of several larger companies along with
numerous small privately owned workshops in the ancient
streets of the historical center of Sorrento. Most of
the small companies cannot do all the manufacturing
steps, so they subcontract such that each performs only
a few steps of the production cycle. It is estimated
that there are several hundred persons working in this
craft.
I have always
enjoyed rambling through the ancient streets, poking
into the open doors of a work shop, watching the
artisans at work, discussing their many problems and
learning of new developments. The reception has always
been cordial and you may find your visit to Sorrento
more interesting if you do likewise. Incidentally, Prof.
Giuseppe Rocco would be pleased to meet with anyone who
would like to visit his studio at Corso Italia 226,
Sorrento, to learn more about the art of intarsio.
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