Vienna, Austria.
Thomas Reiner runs a special business: he restores old parquet floors and in other cases recovers, restores and resells the same type of parquetry.
His website – www.antique-parquet.com - has a section where old, recovered and restored parquetry is offered for sale and it’s patiently waiting to start a new life.
Viewing Mr. Reiner’s collection of parquetry, one can have an idea on the decorative parquet flooring history. Not only the aesthetic side but how the importance of the work has been shared between the richest and the less rich of the society.
The richest.
The oldest – and the most spectacular – work is a piece of inlaid parquetry dating from 1745 and originating from Hetzendorf Castle, Vienna (an edifice build 1694 by Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, bought in 1742 by Empress Maria Theresia of Habsburg, rebuild until 1745):
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| Hetzendorf Castle, Austria - Intricate Inlaid Parquetry Work, cca. 1745 |
Here are some components of the larger assembly:
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| Parquetry border, part of the Hetzendorf Castle inlay. |
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| Central motif, part of intricate Hetzendorf Castle parquetry work; |
The musicians and the nobility.
Down at a simple level there are parquet panels with design.
1.The first one is said to originate from the house of a musician, in Vienna. Notice the attention given to the design and the intricacy of detail.
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| Ringstrasse, Vienna, room of a musician - intricate parquet panel; |
or another one worked with the same finesse:
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| Vienna, Austria, the end of the 19th century - Oak and maple parquet panel; |
2. Beautifully parquet panel with geometric shapes – and done in maple, oak and mahogany.
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| Geometric shapes parquet panel inlay |
A time when the attention for detail produced works of art we can inspire from today.
by www.pavexparquet.com
