French marqueterie de paille tableau; view of Haarlem

This tableau was made with an inlay technique that uses small pieces of straw, known as marqueterie de paille. The material used is straw from wheat, barley or oats, either in its natural state or in a tinted form. Artificial colouring is achieved by dipping the straw in paint.

The tableau in question shows a view of Haarlem, with the bustling river Spaarne in the foreground and the town rising behind it. The tower on the right is clearly recognisable as the steeple of the Bakenesserkerk; just left of the centre is the Church of Saint Bavo. Below the inlaid scene is an inscription: Vue de Haarlem du Cote du Spaar.

The scene was copied from an engraving with the same title by Pierre François Basan, based on a design by Dirck Dalens (III) and dating from the latter half of the eighteenth century.

The craft of straw inlaying was practiced in Europe from the seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century. In France, the trade in furniture and works with straw inlays mostly flourished in Paris from the 1750s to the Revolution. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the art went out of fashion.

 The easy availability of straw encouraged many amateurs to practice the art, which explains why it was so widespread, being practiced not just in monasteries, but also in penal colonies and among galley slaves. In fact, convicts are the best-known producers of marqueterie de paille; during their stay in the penal colonies, it was not uncommon for prisoners to improve their daily lives by working with straw, while galley slaves, when working on land, were occasionally hired to produce straw inlay work in city workshops. Some also sold their works when in port. In monasteries, nuns practiced the art with great virtuosity as a way to keep idle hands busy. Their inlaid works were made to honour the Lord and spread the faith throughout the land, as well as to provide a source of income.

Marqueterie de paille slipped into obscurity in the second half of the nineteenth century and was only rediscovered in 1925 by the decorator André Groult, who used the technique to decorate furniture and walls.