Antique French Marquetry Stationary Box (SOLD)

A beautiful French marquetry stationary box. Made from a mixture of burr walnut, oak and fruit woods, featuring stunning cube and diamond shaped inlays known as Marquetry, the interior to the lid is lined in pale red silk with a hidden letter holder. C1870

Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French marqueter, to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furniture or even seat furniture, to decorative small objects with smooth surfaces or to freestanding pictorial panels appreciated in their own right.

Marquetry differs from the more ancient craft of inlay, or intarsia, in which a solid body of one material is cut out to receive sections of another to form the surface pattern. The word derives from a Middle French word meaning “inlaid work”.

This box remains in good condition and would make a grate addition to any collector or as a small storage box.

Dimensions: H: 14.5cm W: 28cm D: 21.5cm