What is Marquetry? Marquetry is the art of inlaying different woods, and other natural materials to create a picture. To inlay is to set a material onto another surface, but recessed in so that inlayed material is at the same level as the surface. Most of the time the inlayed material is wood but it could be ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shells, bark, straw, stone, metal, gems, etc. All the peculiarities, grain, knots, defects, etc. are used in the overall effect of the picture. One of my favorite effects is to use a spalted wood for an ominous looking sky. Marquetry is often found on the finest furniture. It has been around for thousands of years, and today is considered something of a dying art Marquetry depending on how one defines was practiced in Egyptian and Roman times. Pierre Ramond says that King Mausole was the first to use it in his palace in 350 BC. It was widely use for the rich in the 17 th , 18 th , and 19 th centuries in Europe. It was le...