While visiting the Rochester Guildhall to see the Benjamin Seaton Tool Chest, I had to pass through some other exhibits (the tool chest is way at the back). The Rochester area was known for its prison “hulks” in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The hulks were decommissioned ships – some damaged – that were moored and used as overflow to house prisoners, especially prisoners of war. The hulks in Rochester housed many American and French prisoners of war.
During their time on the hulks, the prisoners would spend their time in a variety of ways, from carving bone to making straw work marquetry.
This surprisingly intricate craft involved making a pine box or cabinet then veneering it with pieces of straw, some of which had been colored.
The Rochester Guildhall had several examples on display, and they were a beautiful almost folk type of marquetry. Check out the photos.
— Christopher Schwarz
Truly a lost art
Not really.
There is a very strong tradition of straw work (and other traditional art forms besides those involving woodworking, to include weaving from raw wool, embroidery-type decoration of cloth, etc.) in New Mexico, dating back to the early Spanish colonial days, that has been preserved in New Mexican (largely) religious art to this day.
If you visit the Spanish Market in Santa Fe, NM, (mid-summer – the dates vary from year to year), you will find a good amount of straw work, as well as quite a few other other religious art forms, along with quite a bit of more modern style secular work.
And there are a good number of New Mexico artists – some of whom are nationally known for their work – making and selling their (straw) work throughout the year.
This is probably the only marquetry I could see myself doing. No offense to the marquetry people, it just seems so tedious, and compiling the different colored woods…I’m already a wood hoarder.
Beautiful. And humbling in so many ways. I had a relative who died soon after serving time on an English prison ship in NY harbor during the revolution. Those places were hell holes. It’s difficult to imagine the spirit it took to create under those conditions.
This reminds me a little of poplarware. Very impressive, under extreme conditions.
People will always find a way to be creative.
Worth checking out the work by adamandarthur from Australia – https://www.adamandarthur.com/work