The Marquetarian

Founded
in
1952

The
Society's
Journal

The front cover of the Autumn issue

The Marquetarian is a veritable mainstay of the Marquetry Society.
As it states on it's front cover, it is the "Journal of The Marquetry Society" and has been in existence in one form or another since the formation of the Society in 1952.

In those early days it was produced as a duplicated sheet (or sheets according to the amount of content) and it was yet to be another couple of years before it was produced in the booklet format we have become so used to.

Those early Marquetarians didn't even contain any illustrations at all except for a small design on the front cover!

The Marquetarian has certainly come a long way since those early days.
Today's magazine is produced to the highest standards that are currently available. Compiled on Mac's and PC's using the latest version of the industry standard "QuarkXpress" publishing software, it is now edited by Alan Mansfield who has recently taken over the mantle from that most respected of erudite Marquetarians Ernie Ives.

Hi, friends!

Ernie edited the magazine for thirty years, taking over the editorship from Max Newport in the late 1970's. Ernie has edited well over 120 issues of the quarterly produced magazine and has introduced many improvements in that time, notably full colour reproduction of marquetry exhibits and plenty of instructional articles.

Alan certainly intends to do his utmost to keep to those high standards that Ernie set; from the look of this Autumn edition, it looks like that goal has been admirably achieved.

There is only one problem with the magazine and it is this; we are afraid that the only way you can get your hands on a copy of The Marquetarian is by becoming a member of the Marquetry Society! it is an exclusive publication after all - and how about this for a recommendation: around 99% of the readers of the Marquetarian keep every issue they have ever received, they never throw them away! how many magazines can you say that about?

So then, let's take a look and see what you will find in the Autumn edition of the Marquetarian.

This edition of the Marquetarian features many educational articles we hope you will find fascinating. There is much to read in this latest edition, so let's (as we've just said) take a look at some of those interesting articles you will find inside:

There’s plenty for you to enjoy and learn from in this Autumn edition of the Marquetarian.

There are loads for you to check out in this Autumn edition of The Marquetarian. We have yet another really packed magazine here that we are sure you are going to enjoy.

For starters there’s the editor’s old Box Brownie camera photos of this year’s International Marquetry Exhibition, where you will find many ‘behind the scenes’ views of such things as the exhibition judging taking place and various static mini exhibitions you would not normally get to see.

The results sheets from the exhibition are included so that you can see what your favourite piece acquired in the exhibition’s competitive classes. The group shield winning group have a page of their own where you can meet the group itself.

Due to many requests, we are republishing some more of Andrew Smith’s ‘Random Jotting’ series which were originally available some decades ago – around the 1970s time. Andrew’s “jottings” were very popular in their day and were eagerly read and looked forward to, by all of our membership of the day. Our editorial team have brought those original articles up to date, and we hope that today’s readers will relish these “wisdoms of marquetry guidance” as much as those readers of old.

Ever heard of straw marquetry? No, neither had we, but a very helpful article on the subject can be found in this autumn edition of ‘The Marquetarian’. This is an old established style of marquetry which exhibits a fluorescent style of shimmering pictorial elements which add greatly to the beauty of a marquetry picture. Most of the illustrations we feature were made by French prisoners of war from the Napoleonic era. Some of this work is astonishingly magnificent. Well worth checking out.

And then primarily for Marquetry Society members we have the entire minutes from our recent AGM available for you to read and to bring yourself up to date with all matters relating to the Marquetry Society. If you were unable to attend the AGM, these notes will be valuable for keeping you abreast of the latest developments in all sectors of your Marquetry Society.

Do enjoy the 2026 exhibition gallery where you will find many high-definition photos of the first selection taken from the official photographs of every exhibit seen in the 2026 exhibition. More selections will be included with our Winter, spring and summer editions of The Marquetarian.

Happily, we have found an entire half page of space (carefully done for a well filled autumn 296th edition) of our very useful identification chart of veneers. These are all over 65 years of age and show you how well veneers can retain their colour when kept away from the bleaching effect of sunlight. These veneers are all genuine examples taken from veneers with odd characteristics in our veneer reference library and they are all featured in accurate colours. Each veneer example featured is taken from accurate scans of the genuine veneers and carefully colour balanced against the actual veneer itself in order to ensure it matches both the printed and true veneer as far as modern technology will allow us.

But, and then again, don't forget our regular 'Readers Letters' 'Chairman's Chatter' 'Independents Corner' and much, much more.

So, as is always the case, we have yet another excellent issue for your perusal!.

The full index of the Marquetarian, from
the earliest issues up to today's,
is available by clicking the
button below:

"Membership Form UK"

or, for our USA potential members

"Membership Form USA"

(everyone else please use the UK form, thanks)

Click any of the following links to read the very
first issues of the Marquetarian:

number 1 | number 2 | number 3 | number 4