INLAID WORK is an art which dates from a remote period. It has been carried on in Bombay since the commencement of the 19th century, having been originally introduced from Hyder abad in Sind. It is said to have been intro duced into Sind about twenty years earlier from Persia ; its native seat is supposed to be Shiraz. From Bombay the work has been carried to Surat. The materials used in the work are :—A mineral green dye for dyeing the stag's horn, Tin wire (Kylacenotur), used in the ornamental veneering. Sandal-wood, ebony, and sappan wood, used in the frame work, and sometimes entering into the ornamental veneer ; ivory, always white. Stag's horn, dyed green with mineral dye, verdigris. Glue, for binding; Ahmad abad glue being esteemed far above all other kinds, including English. The tools employed are a wheel for drawing the tin wire into different shapes for the preparation of the ornamental patterns, saws of different kinds, files, chisels, drills, planes, and a square. The only mystery is in the portion of the work which appears inlaid, but which is not inlaid in the first sense of the term. The patterns are veneered op, and may be applied to any flat or gently rounded surface. The ornamental veneer is prepared by binding together rods of ivory, tin, sappan, ebory, and green-dyed stag's horn, of different shapes, often geometric. These rods are usually three-sided, cylindrical, and obliquely four-sided. They are arranged so as when cut across to exhibit de finite patterns, and in the mass present either the appearance of rods or of thin boards, the latter being to be sliced down into borders. The primary rods are sometimes bound together before being sliced, so as to form more complex patterns. The patterns commonly found in Bombay ready prepared for use are , 1st. Chakra (i.e. wheel), the smaller being of the diameter of a fourpenny bit, and the larger of a shilling.
2d. Kutkee or hexagonal, being composed of obliquely four-sided rods, of ivory, ebony, or sandal-wood, and of ebony, tin wire, puttung, and green-dyed stag's horn mixed.
3d. Trenkoonia gool (i.e. three-sided flower), a three-sided pattern composed of tin wire, ebony, ivory, puttung, and green-dyed stag's horn.
4th. Gul (flower), obliquely four - sided, and compounded as last. These are all for the central veneer. The border patterns are : 5th. Teekee, round, and varying in size from a twopenny bit to a large pin's head, and used for the central patterns, as well as for bordering.
6th. Gundeerio (plumb, full), composed of all the materials used in this work.
7th. Ekdana (one grain), having the appear ance of a single row of tin beads set in ebony.
8th, 9th, and 10th. Poree lehur, Sansoohansio and Porohansio, varieties of border ornaments not easy to distinguish from one another by mere description.
In 1860, about fifty manufacturers were estab lished in Bombay ; six had been settled there from periods varying from twenty-five to forty six years. A few employ workmen, but the majority work for themselves, with the aid in many cases of a brother or son. The inlaid work resembles Tunbridge ware.
At Vizagapatam, in Madras, similar articles are made of ivory and stag's horn, with scroll-work edged in to suit European taste. At Manipuri, in the North-Western Provinces, wooden boxes are inlaid with brass wire. The chief seats of ivory-carving are Amritsar, Bemires, Murshid abad, and Travancore, where any article can be obtained to order, from a full-sized palanquin to a lady's comb. Human figures in clay, dressed to the life, are principally made at Krishnagar, in Bengal, Lucknow, and Poona.—Imp. Gaz. iv. ; Dr. (Sir George) Birdwood.