Inlay (furniture)

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for other uses of inlay see disambiguation page inlay

Inlay is a decorative technique of inserting pieces of coloured materials to form patterns or pictures. Inlay is most commonly used in production of decorative furniture, where pieces of coloured wood or metal are inserted into the veneer.

Inlays were common on high class furniture from the late 16th century and up to the art deco style of the 1920s.

The most famous example of inlay in Europe may be the late 15th century Studiolo [1] made for Federico da Montefeltro in his Ducal Palace at Urbino, in which trompe-l'oeil shelving seems to carry books, papers, curios and mathematical instruments, in eye-deceiving perspective. A similar private study [2] made at Gubbio is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[edit] See also

• marquetry
• mosaic
• niello
• damascening
• intarsia