Revel
Haute-Garonne, Occitania
Whether inlaid or glued, marquetry enhances furniture, woodwork, and paintings. Marquetry craftsmen create abstract or figurative designs, or use the wood grain to design geometric motifs. Devoted to art furniture since the 19th century, Revel
is home to many workshops and a well-renowned school with international appeal.
© Jean-Luc Sarda
"Marquetry is the art and the way to apply a skin to a surface". Behind this poetic definition lies an age-old know-how that allows the creation of subtle decorations for decorative and furnishing objects. The marquetry artist first makes a drawing detailing each element to be made. Then he cuts out each piece from a plate of the desired material. He then assembles them to create the pattern. Revel, in Occitania, is the capital of this craft. Since Alexandre Monoury, a former cabinetmaker at the Royal Manufactory in Versailles, settled there at the end of the nineteenth century, it has been home to a veritable breeding ground for arts and crafts recognised by the "Ville et métiers d'Art" label. Numerous cabinet-makers, marquetry artists, chisellers, sculptors and bronze workers, some of whom are classified as "living heritage companies", have set up shop here and create high-quality furniture in a variety of styles.Lulled by the sound of band saws, spinning wheels, the smell of wood, glue and varnish, Revel is home to some forty workshops, a museum and a high school for arts, crafts, wood and furniture, the first of its kind in France, which together are building the future of this tradition..