John J. Gredler Works of Art, Inc. Desk Accessories

This is a wonderful Derbyshire Ashford pietra dura obelisk, inlaid with lillies, circa 1880 in date. The obelisk is beautifully inlaid with a Pietra Dura of white flowers and malach...

A Fantastic 19th Century French Louis XVI Style Dore Bronze Mounted Blue Opaline Crystal Box. The box is composed of two sections of French opaline crystal which are mounted to a fa...

A sublime silver gilt and full radial guilloche enamel with highlights, singing bird box, with original silver and enamel key and original leather carry case. When wound and the bird-form start/stop button actuated, the magic starts immediately with the bird lid...

A black resin rectangular box with mosaic inlaid mallard duck bird on pond with cattail plant flower; all inlaying was done by hand with natural materials...

A rare silvered metal desk or tabletop planter inlaid with 12 framed Pietra Dura panels of inlaid colorful flowers on a black base, complete with its ...

A pair of gilt bronze Grand Tour urns mounted on marble bases.

Two elegant 19th century classical spelter figures on yellow fossilised marble bases, dating to circa 1850. This decorative pair of classical sculptures – one modelled as a seated f...

French, late 19th to early 20th century. Pair of gilt bronze cupid mantel statuettes, one with bow drawn and one removing an arrow, on white marble plinths...

This is a superb decorative antique Italian Grand Tour marble Pietra Dura mounted desk paperweight, circa 1880 in date. This splendid rectangular paperweight is exquisitely inlaid with a sumptuous arrangement of semi-precious stones including malachite, agate, onyx and amethyst. It is beautifully inlaid on a slate base. Not only is this desk paperweight very functional, but it is also an exquisite mineralogical wonder that can be admired by all discerning collectors. Condition: In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation, Dimensions in cm: Height 2 x Width 17 x Depth 10 Dimensions in inches: Height 1 inch x width 7 inches x depth 4 inches. Pietra dura is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished coloured stones to create images. It is considered a decorative art. Pietre dure is an Italian plural meaning "hard rocks" or hardstones; the singular pietra dura is also encountered in Italian. In Italian, but not in English, the term embraces all gem engraving and hardstone carving, which is the artistic carving of three-dimensional objects in semi-precious stone, normally from a single piece, for example in Chinese jade. The traditional convention in English has been to use the singular pietra dura just to denote multi-colored inlay work. However, in recent years there has been a trend to use pietre dure as a term for the same thing, but not for all of the techniques it covers, in Italian. But the title of a 2008 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe used the full Italian sense of the term, probably because they thought that it had greater brand recognition. The material on the website speaks of objects such as a vase in lapis lazuli as being examples of "hardstone carving (pietre dure)" The Victoria & Albert Museum in London uses both versions on its website, but uses pietra dura. "A method of inlaying coloured marbles or semi-precious stones into a stone base, often in geometric or flower patterns...." Giovanni Montelatici...

A Fantastic 19th century French Louis XVI Style Dore Bronze Mounted Blue Opaline Crystal Box. The box is composed of two sections of French opaline crystal which are mounted to a fab...

The profile of Caesar in profile in high relief. The yellow marble base with stepped edges.

The round paperweight framed in black marble, with porphyry and sienna marble and other marble specimens. The center in sienna marble with carved bea...