Every
year the Marquetry Society holds a National Exhibition of
the finest marquetry pieces that it's members and associated members have
created from that most basic of materials, wood veneer.
The standards achieved these days are of such a high degree that it seems
almost impossible to believe that they are produced from simple hand tools
and materials, but they are!
So, in the early days of that very first National Exhibition when they had
no accepted standards to judge upon, how did they view the entries of that
initial exhibition? to answer that question we are re-printing the report
that Douglas Walters (one of the original members of the Society) wrote
after attending the exhibition.
Here is the report exactly as Douglas wrote it:
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OUR FIRST EXHIBITION by Douglas Walters
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The foyer of the Odeon Cinema, Guildford,
is beautifully veneered in walnut, and it was against this background that
the entries for our first exhibition were most advantageously displayed
and most expertly judged.
Those of our members who were able to visit the exhibition will, I am
sure, agree that the standard of all the work submitted was exceptionally
high, indeed this is amazingly substantiated by the fact that it took the
judges two and a half hours to reach their decisions on the best entries
shown. The classes under which the entries were displayed were very
comprehensive and clearly indicated to the public, who prior to the
exhibition on the whole were unaware that such a craft as Marquetry
existed; what excellent results could be obtained by beginners, and how
with practise, imagination and general good taste, these first attempts
could pave the way to the production of what can only be called
masterpieces, of which there were many on show.
When the idea of an annual Exhibition was first discussed, it's
possibilities were unlimited, but also unpredictable. It was impossible to
estimate the number of exhibits we might get, but as I had already had the
offer of the Odeon Cinema at Guildford, it was decided to go ahead. It was
obvious that an absolute minimum of fifty entries would be essential in
view of the size of the Cinema's foyer, and many anxious moments were
experienced before that figure was reached and then - more than
doubled. There can only be praise for all exhibiting members for their
great interest and industry without which the exhibition could never have
succeeded, and it is hoped that the final figure of 117 entries will prove
an encouragement to all members who were unable to exhibit this year to
rally round and double our success next time.
Let me give you a brief picture, for the benefit of members who were
unable to visit the exhibition, of it's setting and layout. The Cinema's
spacious foyer, rectangular in shape was ideal for our purpose, approached
by a broad flight of stairs and of necessity punctuated by various exit
and entry doors, it nevertheless possessed ample hanging and table space.
The walnut veneered walls were relieved by projecting horizontal bands of
sycamore from which the pictures were hung, and the table exhibits were
shown to advantage in the body of the foyer. These table exhibits
consisted of stands lent by two prominent handicrafts firms and a local
firm, showing marquetry materials; another table exhibit showed the step
by step assembly of a piece of work from original drawing to the
completed, polished and framed marquetry picture and the tools and
materials required; and lastly but no means least, an exhibit deserves
special mention in this report - it was made by a group of boys all under
15 years of age, who exhibited not only their very excellent completed
pictures, but a most original display of home-made tools and examples of
their exercises in cutting straight lines and curves - altogether an
excellent effort.
This then was our first exhibition, scheduled to run for a fortnight but
by virtue of it's great appeal to the local public extended for a further
week, and during this time seen by many thousands of people. During it's
run a prominent member of the Odeon organisation, intrigued by the
originality and popularity of the exhibition, paid it a visit, as a result
of which a tour is being organised by him for the entire exhibition to
visit Odeon and Gaumont cinemas in many parts of England. The tour is to
commence in September which is the peak cinema season and will continue
for a period of about six months. Details are now being worked our for the
routing and transport of the exhibition, which of course needs very
careful planning, but it has already been decided that the tour will
commence in Kensington, London, and finish in Manchester. We are very
grateful for this opportunity of showing such a large public the results
of our labours and hope that it will attract many new members to the
Society.
The actual staging and "packing up" of the exhibition entailed a lot of
hard work and I received most able and generous support from a gallant
group of members who gave much of their valuable spare time to help in the
"behind-the-scenes" tasks, and to whom I extend my thanks. It only remains
for me to offer the most sincere thanks on behalf of the Society to the
many people who gave this venture their support and assistance without
which we should have been severely handicapped:- to Mr. Rowling, the
Manager of the Odeon Cinema, Guildford (whom we are glad to welcome as the
first Vice-President of the Society) for his kind offer of the foyer of
his Cinema and for his untiring enthusiasm and energy displayed during the
exhibition, to the three judges who gave such careful consideration and
showed such a great interest in their onerous task - Dr. R. H.
Graham-Pole, Mr. L. R. Garrett and Mr. R. W. Smoothey, to the Society
members who very kindly made posters and advertisements for the
exhibition, to Handicrafts Ltd., Fred Aldous Ltd., and James Rogerson Ltd
for their excellent and most helpful exhibits; and finally to a number of
local people who although in no way connected with the Society gave such
willing and indispensable assistance in the form of transport, materials
etc.
We can justifiable say that we have been successful in this our first
exhibition, and we can look forward with confidence, benefiting by our
mistakes and shortcomings of this year, to ever greater success in the
future.
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