Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-09-08
THE INLAYERs OF HANOI.
skfIfuI Artists mt Incrusting Eoo"'
will, Mother of Pearl.

Hanoi. a city Of French Tonquin. says
writer In the Journal des voyages nus
fourishing industry In the incrus'atioh W
precious woods with mother OF pearl
The industry is SO important that "hoi'
street. called the street of the 1nlayers' -
given up to IT, and Constitutes '"e
curiosity Of the city. Strangers 10 'he III
pass hours in watching the natiVe "0iA
men. The latter are genuine artists' hids
ters OF a delicate handicraft denahuIhs
at once artistic perception ana hisn maj
nal skill. Furnished with rude tools, pu'
with much patience and skill these work
men produce articles Of great beauty
cleaning with rainbow hues. Here is
sheaf OF many-colored flowers, there are
delicious arabesques, yonder Is iahu-
scape glittering in the sun.
The workmen have applied the princi-
nile of the division OF labor to their art.
There are the cabinet-makers. who put TO-
gether the different parts Of the material
10 be incrusted. The process of joining
is done without the aid Of nails, and with
a system Of nice dove-tailing and the use
OF a paste OF which lacquer Is the base.
The wood employed is of two distinct
species Of palsander. sometimes called
violet ebony, and by the natives tiac, ana
a true ebony from the forest OF the feu
River Of TOnquin. This latter. which the
natives call noun, Is especially Valued ny
reason OF its close grain and It's ceep
black which brings out the shifting sio-
rles Of the mother Of pearl. OBJECTS OF III
crusted ebony are more costly than those
Of violet ebony.
When the cabinet-maker has prepared
the wood IL passes into the hands OF the
designer. who makes sketches OF the
ornamentation upon rice paper. Ihese
designs are transferred to the wood Dy
the inlayer. whose duty 1t IS TO choose
the pearl that will best serve TO bring OUT
the beauty OF the design. The molher Oh
pearl is obtained from a species OF iarge
shell-nsh called casque. chiefly caught
upon the shores of the Island or Pouio-
Condar. The inlayer cuts the mother OF
nearl into bits four or five centimetres IN
diameter and chooses the combination OF
colors that shall yield the contrasts neces-
sary for the artistic success or MS WORK.
His art lies in the skill to arrange the
pieces so as to obtain the best effect OF
irldiscence This he heiShtens by the use
Of n sort of pearl dust furnished by kind
Of great mussel taken from the brooks or
the region. The play OF light upon THESE
mussels gives the whole gamut OF the
rainbow.
The bits Of pearl chosen. the inlayer
strives TO give them the form OF the de-
sign and TO dispose them as a veritable
mosaic in the wood. The crude morsei IS
rendered translucent with pumice stone
II Ia then fixed in a wise, and the mayer
labor OF patience begins. Crouching upon
his heels before the wise. he shapes the
niece with a file smaller than an ordinary
colored crayon. The pearl fashioned, II
Is necessary TO trench the wood 10 receive
II. This is ordinarily done by children IA
or Is years old. They follow the lines OF
the design with a burin and channel tiny
trenchas or n r,illirnetre IN diameter. The
bits OF pearl are then set in the grooves,
and fixed with lacquer paste. the
whole is gently heated 20 melt the paste,
and so I'll all interstices. The inlayer
then pollshes his work, vnrnishes It, ana
gives It finishing touches with the Durin.
The work is so beautiful and so costly
tbat Il ia much counterfeited by cheaper
mpthods, though never with entire sue
cess.