INLAYING IN FRENCH TONQIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 79

INLAYING IN FRENCH TONQIN.

The sole curiosity for sightseers in th«J city of Hanoi, a town of French Tonquin, i? the industry of inlaying mother-of-pearl in precious woods. In fact, one street, called the Street of the Inlayers, is given up to the trade. The workmen are genuine artists, combining artistic perception with great manual skill. Furnished with rude tools, but with great patience and skill, these workmen produce article? of great beauty. They have applied the principle of division of labour, or specialistvbion, to their work. The cabinet makers first put together the various parts of the materials to be encrusted. The joining is done without the aid of nails, and with a nice system of dovetailing and use of paste, of which lacquer is the base. From the cabinet maker the wood passes into the hands of the designer, »vho makes sketches for its ornamentation on rice paper. These designs -are transferred to the wood by the inlayer, whose duty it is to choose the pearl that will best serve to bring out the beauty of the design. The mother-of-pearl is obtained from a large species of shellfish, called caskue. The inlayer cuts the pieces of pearl into little bits and chooses the combination of colours which will make the contrast necessary for the artistic success of his work. The iridescence is heightened by

the use of pearl dust furnished by a kind of mussel taken from the brooks of that region. When the bits of mosaic are selected the inlayer tries to give them the form of the design chosen, and disposes them as a mosaic in the wood. The crude morsel is made translucent by pumicestone, 'ihe pearl is then fixed in a vice, and the labour of patience begins. Kneeling before the vice, he shapes the pieces with a file no larger than an ordinary colour crayon. When the pearl is shaped. i x , is necessary to trench it. in the wood. This is ordinarily done by children 14 oi 15 years old. The bits- of pearl are then set in the grooves and fixed with paste. The whole is. gently heated to melt the paste and so fill the interstices. The design is then polished, varnished, and given the finishing touches. The work has been counterfeited, but never successfully.