Jewelry Boxes in Movies, Plays, and Books

It’s of interest to many that jewelry boxes have been featured extensively in movies, plays, and books. They have been central to several Hollywood movies. In fact, many movies are intriguingly woven around a jewelry box.

‘The Black Swan’ is one example in which actress Natalie Portman gave an Oscar-winning performance. Each night when she went to bed with her toys in the movie, she would dream of a ballet dancer in a musical jewelry box.

In the 1970s, a South Korean movie titled ‘When A Woman Breaks Her Jewelry Box’ told the story of how a woman breaks her jewelry box to learn the truth about her mother. When the box was broken, the lady realized that her mother was still alive and not dead as she had thought. It won an award at the Blue Dragon Film Award ceremony and was adjudged the best film.

Yet another scary movie involving jewelry boxes was ‘What Lies beneath’ starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford. Michelle stumbles upon a jewelry box behind their lake home and it turns out to be a clue that helps solve a murder mystery. She is constantly disturbed by a ghostly presence and the film is a must-watch for its brilliant climax. Thrillers like the ‘Pirates of the Carribean’ series have also used treasure chests and jewelry boxes a lot.

Dalton Moore, an administrator at the Swindon High School penned a play called ‘The Missing Bride’ in the eighties. The students were so convincing with their performances that they won an inter-school competition. The play was about a bride who went missing from her own wedding reception. All the guests were worried about the missing bride.

They searched all over the house till they came across an old jewelry chest and struggled to open it. Inside they found only the bride’s dress and not her. Though her body was missing, her beautiful wedding gown was there. There was pin drop silence in the audience as they were dumbstruck. In the end it turned out that the home the groom and bride bought was actually haunted.

Greek mythology speaks of Pandora’s box, one that was given to a beautiful girl by the Gods, with explicit instructions that it should not be opened. But she was curious and opened the box unleashing illness and disease all around the world.

Fairy tales have their share of jewelry boxes too. ‘The Emperor’s Clothes’ is a story where the garments and riches of the king were stored in highly decorated treasure chests. In J K Rowling’s famous Harry Potter series, the first book talks of his wizardry and his inheritance from his parents. All his gold was kept in jewelry chests at the Gringotts Wizarding Bank. This movie was called ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. Children and adults alike love the idea of movie stories that revolve around jewelry boxes.

Irrespective of whether it is a movie, a book, or a play, the whole family is bound to love it.

This article was written by Rachael Celia Berlie and Ruth D’Souza Prabhu of MarqART Gift Shop. Our jewelry boxes show unique wood grain patterns and colors assembled into beautiful designs of breathtaking beauty. A fine addition to your dressing table or as a gift. Please visit http://www.marqartgiftshop.com to browse & buy exotic marqart jewelry boxes that will give you a lifetime of pleasure!

Tags: Jewelry, marqart jewelry boxes

Marqart Wood Boxes and Various Veneers Used in Marquetry

Marquetry is a traditional art of forming decorative patterns from thin pieces of wood veneers. It became very popular in the 17th century. The artisans were very skilled and their designs were very creative. Objects created from marquetry were quite expensive and ordinary people could not afford them.

There is a variety of veneers used in the creation of marquetry. They are classified according to the type of wood used and they are priced accordingly as well. Depending on the wood, veneers are cut and designed with different and exclusive patterns.

Materials like bone, ivory, turtle shells, brass, colored straw, and mother of pearl are used on top of the veneers. They are used to create amazing inlay and wonderful designs in marquetry. Beautiful inlay work is quite intricate that it takes time and effort to finish them.

Shades of veneers vary – light wood veneers, medium wood veneers, dark wood veneers, soft wood veneers, and hard wood veneers. The wood that they use is being classified as less valuable and valuable and they are priced accordingly. Marquetarians are quite particular about the type of wood they use in their products and some have special preferences.

Mahogany, rose, burl walnut, fire side walnut, and circassian walnut are considered valuable types of wood. Since each of these types of wood has varying grains, they are sawed in different manners. The marquetry work done on these woods are very exotic making them very expensive.

Categorized as less valuable include elm, pine, oak, and spruce. Hard and soft wood veneers are being used in products more often. If a wood has straight grains, it is referred to as soft wood. Examples include pine and the pale knotted wood.

The hard type of wood has grains which are closer and the wood itself is usually dense. Examples are rose wood and maple wood. Hard wood also has coarser grains. Hard wood is mostly used in making furniture.

Marquetarians used a variety of tools in marquetry – fret saw, knives, scalpels, blades, and more modern ones use laser tools. Techniques have advanced and more modern tools and machines are now common to making marquetry art. Many traditional tools used before have also undergone major improvements.

Today, they use the double bevel marquetry technique. With a scroll saw, the table is tilted at a particular angle in order to achieve this technique. Another art, parquetry, uses straight lines and geometrical patterns. The Boulle technique is done by cutting all the elements of the pattern while the background is done simultaneously.

The classic method, however, involves creating the patterns separately without the background. The wood used in creating these designs are specially chosen. Burl wood is the common type used for this purpose.

In the past, the hammering veneering method was used to cut veneers. The same tools were used for different types of wood but the way they are handled vary according to the desired designs.

Today, there is a technique called braided wood veneering. The veneer used can either be matt finished or laminated. Marquetry work done with these types of veneers can be very expensive.

If you love marquetry, there are lots of guides that can teach you how to create your designs. Tools can be purchased and you can take a look at some books for great ideas. There are museums that showcase amazing marquetry work.

You can go ahead and embellish your wooden box with marquetry designs or you can purchase one that’s been handcrafted.

This article was written by Rachael Celia Berlie and Oliver Ocampo of MarqART Gift Shop. Our wood designs are original works of art, no two creations are the same. Each wood shown has its own unique wood grain pattern and color. MarqART comes from combining the words marquetry (wood inlay) + Art (a creation of beauty) an apt name for our products. A fine addition to your dressing table or as a gift. Please visit http://www.marqartgiftshop.com to browse & buy marqart wood boxes that will give you a lifetime of pleasure!

Tags: Jewelry, marqart wood boxes

Ancient and Modern Tools Used in Marquetry

As a decorative art form, Marquetry has been around for a long time. Wood based veneers are used quite a bit in the creation of unique designs. Veneers of different colors and textures are made from these woods.

The veneers are then fashioned into varying shapes and sizes. Original designs created on the surface of wooden objects are then filled in with these veneer slices. Jewelry boxes, wall paintings, curios and the like are the items largely done in Marquetry.

Marquetry is labor-intensive, yet the final product is well worth waiting for. There are various tools used in Marquetry and they depend on the kind of wood you are using, the techniques and the size of the veneers you are utilizing. Tools of ancient times have evolved a great deal to make way for those that are more accurate.

First making its appearance in French workshops is the ‘Chevalet de Marqueterie’ or the Marquetry Donkey. Woodcraftsmen who worked with this tool could do some real fine precision cutting with it. This tool was a saw frame that could be operated by hand and could give lines as delicate as a 10th of a millimeter wide.

Ecole Boulle in Paris still uses this Marquetry Donkey. Students are taught the French method of Marquetry with this. The most important plus point with this tool is that you can work long hours on it comfortably.

The Ecole Boulle also uses the overhead jigsaw to teach its students. This has a leather belt that can cut up to a 180 strokes a minute. This is great for large projects going up to 5 ft and more.

It is perfect for accurate work on heavy veneer packets and metals. Marquetry made by hand is still quite the preference in present times. The basic tools used are knives and you can choose yours depending on the kind of project you are working on.

With a pencil like look, the X-acto knife is a good one and comes with a knurled sleeve. You can build up your collection of knives with time and depending on the projects you work on.

A collection of blades is essential for beginners in Marquetry. You will need blade #11 as the most basic of them for when you get started. Sharpening stones will help you get them ready again when they go blunt.

Another option is to buy packets of blades in bulk and replace them as you use them. You will also need cutting boards made of plywood. The most preferred option is beach plywood.

Pine and oak are, according to most artisans, too hard to be used. If you are working on pictorial Marquetry, a particle board is essential. Of late, the medium dense fiber (MDF) board is opted for.

For some advanced Marquetry, tools like the green board are needed on which to cut long slivers of veneer. Hand rollers are also needed to press down veneers after they have been glued to a surface. A few woodworkers opt for a rotary palm held sander that will help smoothen the surface of an image.

This article was written by Ruth D’Souza Prabhu of MarqART Gift Shop. Our jewelry boxes show unique wood grain patterns and colors assembled into beautiful designs of breathtaking beauty. A fine addition to your dressing table or as a gift. Please visit http://www.marqartgiftshop.com to browse & buy exotic marqart jewelry boxes that will give you a lifetime of pleasure!

Tags: Jewelry, marqart