Could you explain of the terms Intaglia and Intarsia.
I think it will help people understand what you are
talking about better, when you describe your work.
Hi Keith,
I will do my best to explain this.
I am going to start with Intarsia; General refers to the joining of many pieces of wood in a puzzle-piece fashion, but with seams that are so close there are NO Gaps. There is also no backing to stabilize the wood, just glue.
In the last couple of decades, with the invent of powerful stone cutting saws and larger stone flattening lap,( a large super flat diamond covered disk) Intarsia has come into the scene in the lapidary field. However only in geometric form.
Intaglia; the word is not found in the English language. It stems from China somewhere around the 13th century, when the country started it’s trade routes.
Ivory, Gold, Jade were used strictly by the upper ruling class in there jewelry design. The original Intaglia was set on a backing of Jade or Gold, as both were worn next to the body for there healing properties. The ivory the Chinese used was Elephant and due to it’s age, was much more stable then the Mammoth Ivory I use today.
I don’t have the tools to work with Jade or the funds to work with plate Gold, therefore I use Mammoth Ivory to back my pieces of Intaglia work, and thus I am the only carver, other then Mike Carson, the master carver I learned from, who used this style. World wide.
Intaglia is hard to explain, as it is a 3 dimensional art form. F
* First a solid, very thin, 100% Flat backing plate of mammoth ivory is formed into a desired shape IE: A Song Bird.
* Then several different colors of mammoth ivory are selected for the varies parts of the bird. IE: the Beak, The Head, The breast, The wing.
* Each piece must be 100% flat and 100% square on all sides. If this is not done correctly then gaps will show and ruin the piece. This is done by hand with no magnification.
* Each piece is then set onto the backing piece and pinned threw the backing piece, ensuring that no pieces ever move.
* If a piece such as the beak is to small and close to the edge to be pinned threw the back, then it is pinned threw the piece adjoining it, in a horizontal fashion.
* When all pieces have been pinned, and are checked to be 100% secure, the piece is them formed into the desired 3 dimensional shape.
* It is then sanded, and polished to a high shine, and set with only the finest Gold or Sterling Silver findings available.
I hope this helps. You can see both forms of this work made in Ivory Jewelry on my 2 sites listed below.
http://mammothivorycreation.etsy.com
http://www.artworkbid.com/MammothIvoryCreations
I am also working on a Past Work Gallery Site at:
http://www.MammothIvoryCreations.com
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