We are pleased to say that you have done us proud with your collective response to our appeal for information about the excellent Buchschmid and Gretaux company and the delightful marquetry pictures they produced.

Due to your input we are pleased to say that we now have a fair amount of information on this particular subject, and so, not wishing to keep you waiting any longer, here is our "potted" compilation of the information you have generously sent us so far:

Buchschmid and Gretaux were reputed to use wood (and, of course, the resulting veneers) sourced from Germany's famous Black Forest to make their marquetry pictures.

They, for some reason, always refered to their marquetry pictures as "wood inlay pictures" - although, we feel, that marquetry would be the more technically correct term for the B & G pictures.

The picture making tasks were split fairly evenly between messrs Buchschmid and Gretaux; Mr Gretaux being the fellow who assumed and took on the role of artist and who was ultimately responsible for creating those pleasing designs used by the company. Mr Buchschmid, on the other hand, was the craftsman and overseer who controlled the production of the pictures.

Although most of their pictures were "signed" with their BG logo, there are many examples of their work that do not possess such an identifying signature. It is possible that unsigned works could be recent productions assembled from kits of the original designs or latter day reproductions of the originals. The BG logo and the accompanying label on the reverse of the picture do however help greatly when identifying the origins of these works.

Messrs Buchschmid and Gretaux have sadly both since "passed on", but their original pictures continue to be avidly collected by connoisseurs of the art (or craft - if you prefer that terminology) and they appear to command reasonably respectable prices at auction, especially if they happen to be the more important and detailed examples of their marquetry pieces - and, of course, originals. Although it would be fair to say that the original sale prices of the pictures have maintained a consistent and comparable resale level for at least the last 40 years or so. Perhaps with a little more exposure in the public media Buchschmid and Gretaux 'wood inlay' pictures will achieve the true status they genuinely merit. But, if nothing else, those pictures make truly wonderful and interesting display pieces for your own home galleries.

Buchschmid and Gretaux Studios made much use of their own marquetry artists and their B & G "students" in order to produce their marquetry pictures from their unique Buchschmid and Gretaux's own 'in house' marquetry designs.

Buchschmid and Gretaux also claimed to have their own rather unique techniques for producing marquetry pictures which they considered were very different from those of most of the other commonplace marquetry artists and craftsmen.

ABC Studios in Heidelberg, Germany were handling the sale of Buchschmid and Gretaux pictures in the latter half of the 20th century - and would produce copies of their designs on a commission basis if so required.

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Thanks are due to everyone who contacted us with information on the history and subsequent fate of the Buchschmid and Gretaux company. Special thanks are due to Kathy Olson, Debbie Veasey and Faith Elkins for the "in depth" information they supplied us with, we feel sure that every Buchschmid and Gretaux picture owner and collector will be indebted to them for their superb knowledge of the Buchschmid and Gretaux Company.

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Please note that the information contained in "Some Answers" above is the information very kindly passed on to us by our web site visitors who, in general, have actually had personal dealings with the Buchschmid and Gretaux company and/or its representatives.

The Marquetry Society web site is regretably not able, at this moment, to be in a position to confirm or verify the above information, especially where monetary values and/or valuations are concerned, and we therefore advise you to make your own checks and judgement before using the aforesaid information as a true yardstick on the Buchschmid and Gretaux company and/or its products and/or monetary values..

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Your editorial team is however pursuing several further leads on the B & G subject and hope to have a lot more information for you with our December update (fingers crossed!!).

But, until then we hope you will find that the above information provides a little more knowledge on the origins and subsequent fate of the infamous Buchschmid and Gretaux "wood inlay pictures" Company.