What is Intarsia?

Clown Triggerfish

Intarsia is a fairly uncommon artform in the woodworking world. When I tell people I'm an intarsia artist, it's very typical for them to quickly ask, "what is intarsia?" There's a quick and easy answer and a longer detailed answer. Quick answer first! Intarsia is a one sided, mosaic styled, woodcarving artform using a variety of different types of wood. Segments vary in thickness and are carved to create an almost 3-D image (I like to call it a 2.5-D artform). Now let's dig into the longer detailed definition. Being a niche style of woodworking, the exact definition can be a bit blurry on what classifies and what doesn't. Much falls in the realm of opinion, but there are some facts to help clear things up. To more accurately define what intarsia is, let's start where it all began!

7th Century Egypt

This time period has some of the earliest known examples of intarsia-like art. Importantly, it wasn't always created through one medium. Artisans used everything from ivory and other bone to mother of pearl and stone. Some evidence points to the earliest versions being made mostly from sea shells. It was not called "intarsia" in this region and time period though. You will have to fast forward to 15th century Italy before that name is adopted.

For centuries, this Islamic north African region perfected the art. It wasn't until around the13th century that it finally found its way into Christian dominated Europe as merchants and traders began to frequent the area more. By the 15th century, it was found in nearly every "wealthy" corner of Europe with the medium of choice being primarily stone and wood. The popularity began to dip in the mid 1600's as its distant cousin, marquetry, started to replace it. So what is the difference between marquetry and intarsia? Thickness! Marquetry is made using very thin veneers of inlaid wood while intarsia was made with thicker material that is textured or shaped giving it a semi-3D appearance.

Example of Italian Renaissance Marquetry

Intarsia continued to decline in popularity over the following centuries, but was never entirely lost. It was mostly kept alive in Europe by a handful of dedicated craftsmen. It was only in the 1980's that the artform underwent its modern day transformation and popularity grew widely throughout the United States. This resurgence of the artform is sometimes credited as "saving" the practice, as prior to this, very few people created intarsia. There is also a common knitted artform of intarsia that uses the same segmented style of piecing together or inlaying different types and colors of fibers.

Wood Grain and Color

Phoenix 2022

The wood choice with intarsia is arguably half the art itself! Finding that perfect grain and color can take as long as the cutting and shaping of the segments. This leads us neatly into a hot topic among some groups. If you cut a pattern out of a single board, is this still intarsia? I would say it's not "true" intarsia. You're missing that vital component of varying wood grain. This process isn't considered true inlay either if you're cutting everything out of a single piece of wood.

So let's tweak the question slightly now. If you use all the same type of wood to make a project but cut each segment out utilizing different grain directions and different parts of the same board, is that intarsia? I'd say yes it is, but a muted version. While wood can vary greatly within species, segments can easily blend together and get lost if everything is the same color, even with grain variation.

How about we tweak the same question just a little bit more? If you stain wood, is it still intarsia? If using different types of wood or grain directions, absolutely! There are some purists that refuse to touch a drop of stain, which is admirable! Personally, I avoid stains whenever possible, but there are those times when staining is the only way to get a desired look. The colors blue and green are the two big culprits I give in to. Selective staining can really enhance a project. Even still, I personally really admire creations that are 100% stain free. It's another layer of artistry and creativity that I've come to really appreciate, even if the color isn't ideal.

Intarsia Summed Up

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and learned a thing or two. To recap what wood intarsia is, it's a segmented wooden artform using varying thicknesses, colors, and grain. Segments are shaped and/or textured to give the final result a semi-3-D appearance. What are your thoughts on what constitutes intarsia and what doesn't? Are you interested in learning more about this amazing artform? We would love to hear your perspective. Please feel free to leave comments and join in on the community discussion.

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