Illustrated
Architecture Dictionary............ Illustrated
FURNITURE Glossary
Inlay
Architecture
A shaped piece of one material embedded in another as part of surface ornamentation.
Furniture
A technique in which a design is cut out of the surface to be decorated and filled in with other contrasting materials cut to fit exactly into these openings. The contrast of color or materials creates the decoration. The inserts may be of wood veneer, metals, shells, mother-of-pearl, hot sulfur, wax, glass, ivory, etc.
Marquetry: a mosaic usually of wood fitted into a support
Intarsia: an elaborate form of marquetry using inlays in wood, especially as practiced in 15th-century Italy.
Federal style commonly used inlay patterns:
- Black diamond banding - Because some banding and stringing were imported, these are not always reliable clues as to origin..
- Triangle inlay - Associated with Massachusetts but occasionally seen in other areas.
- Stringing
- Shell
- Fluted frieze, or book inlay - Most often seen on Rhode Island or New York furniture.
- Banded pendant, or "icicle" inlay - Seen on some Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode island work.
- Patera
Two commonly used woods for stringing were boxwood and ebony.
Imitation inlay: A painted decoration or decalcomania which simulates inlay work, but is recognizable by its smooth, uninterrupted surface.
Examples:
- Illustration above: Old City Hall, Philadelphia ...... LARGER SIZE Inlaid stringing is tiger maple
- Inlay inventory - Kittinger Furniture Company
- Cabriole leg -Edward Harvey House. 91 Jewett Parkway
- Federal mirror - MacKay Homestead, Genesee Country Village, & Museum
- Card table - Fairmount Park Woodford House, Philadelphia
- Walnut and tin - Hofmobileliendepot Imperial Furniture Collection,Vienna, Austria
- Walnut and bone - Hofmobileliendepot Imperial Furniture Collection,Vienna, Austria
- Reproduction Federal style serpentine chest of drawers with oval inlay - Kittinger Furniture Company
- Marble altar railing - Cathedral, Palermo, Sicily
