Oystering or oyster veneer is a decorative form of veneering, a type of

parquetry Parquet (; French for "a small compartment") is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect in flooring. Parquet patterns are often entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges—but may contain curves. T ...

.Oyster Veneer - Coloradostyle.com
/ref> This technique is using thin slices of wood branches or roots cut in cross-section, usually from small branches of

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

, olive, kingwood and less commonly

laburnum ''Laburnum'', sometimes called golden chain or golden rain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are '' Laburnum anagyroides''—common laburnum and '' Laburnum alpinum''� ...

, yew and

cocus ''Brya ebenus'', also known as espino de sabana, granadillo, cocus wood, cocuswood, and coccuswood, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Jamaica. Horticulturally it is ...

. The resulting circular or oval pieces of veneer are laid side by side in furniture to produce various decorative patterns. Because the shape formed resembles an oyster shell the technique acquired the name of oyster veneering.Antique terms
/ref>

History

This technique is likely to have been developed by English cabinet-makers in the 1660s, immediately after the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of the monarchy, first being used on furniture such as the cocuswood cabinet on stand which bears the cipher of

Queen Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She was ...

, constructed in c.1661-65, and now at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

. Early oyster veneered cabinets were invariably in

or kingwood. Contemporary

longcase clock A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are common ...

cases were similarly veneered. By around the early 1670s softer and more cheaply available woods such as olive and walnut began to be used for oyster veneering, the fashion for such furniture becoming widespread and also spreading to Holland by around the mid-1670s. Oyster veneering fell out of fashion from c.1710. The chest illustrated here, if it is not a later reproduction, therefore appears to be an unusually late example. File:George III Oyster Burl Yew wood Chest Of Drawers 03.jpg, Chest Of Drawers, age of

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

File:George III Oyster Burl Yew wood Chest Of Drawers 01.jpg, End of same chest File:George III Oyster Burl Yew wood Chest Of Drawers 02.jpg, Detail of the chest File:Rolvenden, St Mary 's font 3269.JPG, A commission from 2017, A baptismal font cover in

Rolvenden Rolvenden is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is centred on the A28 Ashford to Hastings road, south-west of Tenterden. The settlement of Rolvenden Layne, south of Rolvenden, is also part of th ...

, Kent.

References

* {{Woodworking 1660s establishments in England The Restoration Surface decorative techniques in woodworking Woodworking Crafts Henrietta Maria of France