MARQUETRY (Fr. marqueterie, from marqueter, to inlay, literally to mark, marquer), an inlay of ornamental woods, ivory, bone, brass and other metals, tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl, etc., in which shaped pieces of different materials or tints are combined to form a design. It is a later development of the ornamental inlays of wood known by the name of Intarsia, and though in the main the latter was a true inlay of one or more colours upon a darker or lighter ground, while marquetry is composed of pieces of quite thin wood or other material of equal thickness laid down upon a matrix with glue, there are examples of Intarsia in which this mode of manufacture was evidently followed. In order to gain greater relief the wood was shaded or tinted. A combination of tortoise-shell and metal, the one forming the ground and the other the pattern upon it, which may be classed as marquetry also appears in the I7th century. The subjects of the intarsiatori are generally arabesques or panels with elaborate perspectives, either of buildings or cupboards with different articles upon the shelves seen through half-open doors. The later marqueteurs used a freer form of design for the most part, and scrolls and bunches of flowers appear in profusion, while if architectural forms occur they are generally in the shape of ruins amid landscape. The greater portion of the examples in England are importations, either from Holland (in which country very fine work was pro duced during the latter half of the 16th and 17th centuries) or from France. The reputation of the Dutch marqueteurs was so great that Colbert engaged two, named Pierre Gole and Vordt, for the Gobelins at the beginning of the 17th century. Jean Mace of Blois, the first Frenchman known to have practised the art, who was at work in Paris from 1644 (when he was lodged in the Louvre), or earlier, till 1672, as a sculptor and painter, learnt it in the Netherlands. His title was "menuisier et faiseur de cabinets et tableaux en marqueterie de bois"; but as early as 1576 a certain Hans Kraus had been called "marqueteur du roi."
Jean Mace's daughter married Pierre Boulle, and the greatest of the family, Andre Charles Boulle (q.v.), succeeded to his lodging in the Louvre on his death in 1672. The members of this family are perhaps the best known of the French marqueteurs. Their greatest triumphs were gained in the marquetry of metal and tortoise-shell combined with beautiful ormolu mountings. The names of Roentgen, under whom the later German marquetry perhaps reached its highest point, Riesener and Oeben, testify to their nationality. A good deal of marquetry was executed in England in the later Stuart period, mainly upon long-case clocks, cabinets and chests of drawers, and it is often of real excellence. Marquetry in a shallower form was also extensively used in the latter part of the 18th century. The most beautiful examples of the art in Italy are mainly panels of choir stalls or sacristy cup boards, though marriage coffer were also often sumptuously decorated in this manner. With the increase in luxury and display in the 17th and 18th centuries in France and Germany cabinets and escritoires became objects upon which extraordinary talent and expenditure were lavished. In South Germany musical instru ments, weapons and bride chests were often lavishly decorated with marquetry. In modern practice as many as f our or even six thicknesses are put together and so cut. When all the parts have been cut and fitted together face downwards, paper is glued over them to keep them in place and the ground and the veneer are carefully levelled and toothed so as to obtain a freshly worked surface. The ground is then well wetted with glue at a high tem perature and the surfaces squeezed tightly together between frames called "cauls" till the glue is hard. There are several modes of ensuring the accurate fitting of the various parts, which is a matter of the first importance if the artistic effect is to be secured. (See INLAYING.)