BUHLWORK, a description of inlaid work, consisting at first of inserting a brass scroll or pattern in a ground of dark-colored tortoise-shell or wood; but at a later period the use of wood of a different color, instead of metal, was introduced by Reisner, and to his process the modern practice of buhlwork is chiefly confined. It consists in cutting out a pattern from two veneers of different colored woods, which arc glued together with a piece of paper laid between them; the pieces are then separated by running a thin knife through the paper, the patterns are carefully taken out, and the figure removed from the one veneer is inserted into the cavity of the other, the dust of the wood being rubbed in to fill the inter stices. A little glue is then rubbed in, and the work laid aside to dry, after which it is ready to be glued to the box or piece of furniture which it is wished to ornament. The cutting of the pattern is effected by the use of a very fine saw, of the kind known as a key-saw, which can readily be made to run around the sinuosi ties of the patterns. The suitable designs for
this work are continuous figures like a running vine or the honeysuckle, the saw completing these without the necessity of discontinuing the work to commence anew. Two pieces of buhl work are thus produced; but three are fre quently obtained by gluing together three pieces of wood and cutting out in the same manner. It is not, however, found expedient to combine a greater number of pieces. The French term for buhlwork and all sorts of inlaid work is marqueterie. The name buhl is derived from a French cabinet-maker, Andre Charles Boulle or Boule, formerly miscalled Buhl, b. 1642; d. 1732. He raised cabinet-making to an art in dustry, and Reisner, above mentioned, was a German contemporary of Boulle's.