HISTORY

Pyrography is an ancient craft practised throughout the world.

Cavemen are well expected to have used charred sticks to draw in walls, but unfortunately no examples to be seen!

In early times pyrography, as today, was principally used for the decoration of artifacts, examples of which are likely to have been lost, principally as it was classified as a folk art rather than paintings and sculptures.

Pyrography is derived from the Greek words pur (meaning fire) and graphos (meaning writing). People have probably "written with fire" since fire was discovered.

According to Kathleen Menendez of the E-Museum of Pyrographic Art the earliest surviving example of pyrography is in fact a "container" decorated with flowers and hummingbirds found in Peru which seems to be one of the main birthplaces of pyrography. This has been dated to before 700 AD.

However Patricia Arnold claims the earliest surviving example of wood burning found was a Roman caudex that dates back to the occupation of Britain in the 1st to 4th centuries. A caudex was a wax tablet in a wood frame that was used for writing letters. In this example, the outer cover carried a brand mark to denote the identification of the letter writer, much as sealing wax was used in later centuries.

In Europe, Asia, Australia and America pyrography was used to decorate artifacts such musical instruments and kitchenware. In Europe the use of pyrography is thought to have appeared in the medieval and renaissance periods. The Great Masters were thought to have used pyrography to decorate wainscots, although this has not been substantiated.

Another application of pyrography dating back to the 15th century is in conjunction with the use of marquetry, which is a veneer inlay decoration usually done on furniture.

During the Victorian period the craft enjoyed its greatest popularity. Original pokers were heated in fires and created rather crude results. Victorian ladies developed various tools such as fine steel rods similar to knitting needles and heated them in a fire or over a spirit lamp, allowing them to work more skilfully and create fine designs. The rods would lose their heat quickly and have to be returned to the fire for reheating, making the process slow and tedious. Courses in pyrography were available, and the standard of some of the work done at this time was remarkably high considering such crude tools were used.

Victorian Lady, incredibly decorative

1905 Edwardian Woman, signed.

Pyrographic Kit from the beginning of the Twentieth Century.