Inlay Collectibles and Curiosities

Superb oratory in oak from the Louis XIV period. The lower part forming a drop-leaf desk, has a door with its original hinges and rests on a platform. In the upper part, the pediment...

A large and very rare silver-inlaid antique Judaica tray Jerusalem, c.1900 Height 2.5cm, diameter 62cm This large and remarkable work is a copper and silver-inlaid antique Jewish tray, featuring meticulous and exceptional metalwork, and was made in Jerusalem around the turn of the twentieth century. It features a twelve-fold repeating pictorial decoration, which is set between two circles, that of the central ring in which a large menorah...

Victorian marquetry wall barometer and thermometer. English, 19th century Measures: height 98cm, width 25cm, depth 7cm. This elegant piece is a fin...

English mahogany oval sea captains desk with hinged leather top concealing two upper hidden compartments, single front drawer, original brasses, ebony...

English Victorian rectangular inlaid music box.  

Restored, 1907 Ibach Model 2 grand piano with a cherry case in a checkerboard design and inlaid, contrasting squares on the piano lid. Piano music desk is in an openwork dual criss-cross design. Piano has gate legs with four contrasting black spindles. Piano one of two designed for and offered to Richard Strauss by Ibach. Ibach made two pianos almost identical in this design except, the other #56279 had low, square piano cheeks. Richard Strauss chose that one as he intended the piano for his home where he hosted concerts and wanted his audience to be able to see his hands. This piano remained in the possession of Ibach and was used in exhibitions for promotional purposes. This piano was designed by Emanuel von Seidl, a German architect, interior designer and engineer. Between 1900 and 1918, Seidl was a successful villa architect and was known far beyond the borders of his hometown of Munich. Probably his most important private houses include that of Richard Strauss with its generously glazed bay window and view of the Alps, and the country estate Schloss Wolfsbrunn built for the mining entrepreneur Georg Wolf.

This is a unique custom surfboard featuring a marquetry deck incorporating 24 carat gold leaf, designed and hand-crafted by the w o o d p o p studio which specialises in marquetry an...

The w o o d p o p pintail longboards are handcrafted in workshops on either side of the Welsh/English border the UK. Each one is made from best quality Finnish Birch and vacuum lamin...

Very large Persian pierced steel Islamic standard damascened with gold Persian, 19th century Measures: Height 82cm, width 44cm, depth 10cm This fine processional standard (known...

An antique handmade boat model on pedestal from the early 20th century, with bone inlay over wood. Charming us with its exquisite craftsmanship, this antique handmade boat model from...

This Classic, antique scale with original plates was created in Dijon France, circa 1870. Rectangular in shape, the fruit wood scale embellished with marquetry fillet decor, features...

Marquetry wooden music box by Nicole Frères Swiss, Late 19th Century Height 14cm, width 64cm, depth 19cm This elegant wooden music box is a fine example of 19th-century craftsmanshi...

The w o o d p o p pintail longboards are handcrafted in workshops on either side of the Welsh/English border the UK. Each one is made from best quality Finnish Birch and vacuum lamin...

English Gothic style, 1895, Ibach upright piano with a carved, oak case and ornate brass candlesticks and handles. Cabinet features traditional folk art motifs and carvings. Pilasters carved with hearts and stylised trees. Piano cheeks feature a carved sun in a half hex and stylised bird in flight. Front panel inlaid with folk elements including trinity tulips symbolising faith, hope and charity in a central urn with stylised foliage. Piano legs are turned with carved spiraling detail . Piano pedals feature a raised, ornate brass footplate in a curlicue design. Repeating, carved barrel vaults...

The w o o d p o p pintail longboards are handcrafted in workshops on either side of the Welsh/English border the UK. Each one is made from best quality Finnish Birch and vacuum lamin...

A cribbage board made from brass and steel with intricate inlayed brass details. A felt-lined drawer on one end holds a deck of cards while the two drawers on the opposite end hold pegs for scoring. Each drawer has magnetic retention to keep them snuggly within the box when not in use. This design is modeled off of the traditional board, containing four runs of 30 holes, with each run divided into 5 point sections. An Old English game...

Beautiful marquetry design checker board with wood playing disc. Made for travel so it folds in half. Table not included.

This marquetry skateboard from the w o o d p o p studio is an example of the type of modern marquetry that w o o d p o p is becoming synonymous with. Since its inception 10 year...

A wonderful and very large chess or checker board made of inlay wood with a 3.75" Perimeter of solid wood and a detailed routed edging. The back is covered...

Antique parquetry wood music box by Nicole Frères Swiss, Late 19th Century Height 24cm, width 87cm, depth 35cm This exquisite antique is a late 19th-century music box, meticulously...

An 18th century French Louis XVI marquetry secretaire, or secretary desk with bookcase. Beautifully made with book matched veneer of mahogany and fine inlay of walnut and mahogany. I...

A very rare Louis XVI period serinette or bird organ in the form of a transitional style gilt bronze mounted and marquetry inlaid miniature commode in the manner of gilbert, by Robert Richard, Paris. With a label for ' RICHARD - maitre facteur d’orgues et mécanicien / Rue de richelieu à la bibliothèque Du Roy / Paris 1775'. This rare Serinette or Bird Organ has a wooden cylinder barrel mounted by twelve pins and linked to twelve sound pipes. A crank attached to the front panel controls the bellows that activates the mechanism. The exceptional marquetry inlaid case is in the form of a gilt bronze mounted transitional style miniature commode. The top of the commode is inlaid with a landscape scene with buildings, opening to an interior with an allegory of Love Conquering All, represented by two doves perching on a bow and quiver. The front of the commode depicts two obelisks centred by a Fine musical trophy and each side is inlaid with panels depicting the Medici Vase. The back of the commode is decorated with floral marquetry. A closely related Serinette dating from circa 1770, also in the form of a miniature commode, with the marquetry case stamped by the master marqueteur Leonard Boudin, is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. The term serinette is derived from serine, French for finch. The instrument worked like a small barrel organ with a barbed cylinder, wind box and lead pipes and produced a high, thin sound in imitation of birds. Other versions included a merline, which copied blackbirds and a turlutaine, which copied curlews. Used to teach caged birds to sing tunes, different barrels could be inserted to train different birds. It first appeared in France circa 1730 and became a popular drawing-room toy for fashionable women. An interesting painting commissioned in 1751 for Louis XV by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin and now in the collection of the Louvre, depicts a refined lady seated in her salon playing a bird organ to encourage her bird to sing. Robert Richard Robert Richard was a Parisian organ and harpsichord maker and the mécanicien du roi to Louis XV and Louis XVI and was based in the Bibliothèque du Roi in rue de Richelieu. Initially working alongside the Cliquot family who acted as 'facteur d'orgue du Roi', he is recorded as building an organ for the church of Notre-Dame de Quebec, in Montreal in 1753 (destroyed in 1759) and as the inventor of a mechanical concert shown in an engraving by d'Eisen in 1769. Canon Jean Marie De La Corne described Robert Richard as : ''Le plus habile ouvrier de paris, fameux mechanitien et Homme de probité''. French, Dated 1775. Literature: Pierre Kjellberg, The French Furniture of the 17th century, The Editions of the Amateur, 2008 Count Francois de Salverte, Cabinetmakers of the 18th century, Editions of Art and History, 1934 Raymond Russell, Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogue of Musical Instruments, Volume I - Keyboard Instruments,(London, 1968; p. 69.) Elizabeth Miller...

The w o o d p o p pintail longboards are handcrafted in workshops on either side of the Welsh/English border the UK. Each one is made from best quality Finnish Birch and vacuum lamin...

Moorish Brass inlaid camel saddle /towel rack The finest example, heavily inlaid with brass, possibly originally an officers or wealthy persons saddle. Can be easily mounted and ...

A modernist 1970's Taxco, México Sterling Silver with Niello finish and a tiger's eye cabuchon brooch by Sigifredo Pineda. The curved 2-layer design is in clear silver finish in fron...

This marquetry skateboard from the w o o d p o p studio is an example of the type of modern marquetry that w o o d p o p is becoming synonymous with. Since its inception 10 year...

This Fine, circular micromosaic plaque shows four doves drinking water from a golden bowl, upon which they perch. The Classical design for the mosaic is taken from one found in the Roman Emperor Hadrian's villa in the 2nd century AD. Hadrian's mosaic, which was on the floor as is traditional, was probably based on a design by Sosus of Pergamon, a Greek master artist. Known as the Capitoline Doves...

Sterling silver enamel guilloche compact by Danish designer Aage Hjalmer Steenberg. Makers Mark reads, "1429 836 STERLING" with the hallmark "AHS". ...

German late Renaissance style, 1896, Julius Pfaffe upright piano for sale with a walnut case and burr walnut panels. Cabinet features a front openwork panel of turned spindles that acts as a sound box...

Each w o o d p o p balance board is meticulously handcrafted in our Black Mountains workshop in the UK. Doubling up as an integral part of any fitness r...

A Japanese Cypresswood or hirohi ‘Walsh, Hall & Co, Yokohama’ tea chest Yokohama, 1862-1897, with inscription reading: Choicest Natural Leaf Yamashiro Tea, Packed by Walsh, Hall & Co, Yokohama Measures: H. 53.5 x W. 61.5 x D. 41.5 cm Including original wood box The chest gold, silver and red lacquered on a black lacquer ground, the top decorated with an eagle sitting on a branch, looking at a small escaping bird, the front with a pheasant under a chestnut, one side with a cockerel amongst foliage, the back decorated with an argus pheasant...

Each w o o d p o p balance board is meticulously handcrafted in our Black Mountains workshop in the UK. Doubling up as an integral part of any fitness r...

Each w o o d p o p balance board is meticulously handcrafted in our Black Mountains workshop in the UK. Doubling up as an integral part of any fitness r...

Wood and leather game box for chess, Nine men’s morris and Backgammon Italy, 19th century 33 x 33,3 x 11,2 cm Nine men’s morris also known as mill game (merelles, from the Latin wor...

Pair of 19th Century Scottish Monogrammed Hardwood Lawn Balls  A pair of 19th-century Scottish monogrammed hardwood lawn balls. Each ball, measuring 5 inches in diameter, is crafted...

A set of lute/guitar brooches made in Venice Italy during the 1960s or 1970s. The micro mosaic consists of tiny pieces of colored glass. Set into gilt br...

Mexican Modernist double sided sterling silver cross inlaid with malachite, carnelian and lapis lazuli 20th Century This finely crafted double sided cross is composed of oval and cir...

A large circular micromosaic panel representing the so called "Tomb of Cecilia Metella on the Appian way" near Rome. This plate shows superior quality and m...

Antique George III quality mahogany inlaid banjo barometer having a swan neck top, quality mahogany case with inlaid satinwood shells brass bezel engraved silvered dial original hand...

Small Silver “Jambiya” or Curved Dagger With Its Sheath. These are often Extremely well Crafted with Extraordinary inlaid Silver Designs accentuated with “Neillo”. This Inlaid Handl...

Cornice da Tavolo argentata con Commesso di Fiori inizi 1900 di forma ovale con un profilo perlinato ed incernierato nella parte destra in modo tale da poter aprire la cornice che presenta due piedi ed una cimasa riccamente decorati da volute finemente incise nei bordi. La cornice di questa placca ovale è realizzata in lamina di ottone di buon spessore ed argentata con una marchio sul retro con le iniziali  MV in campo ovale con figura di un martello al centro. Il commesso è realizzato su lastra di ardesia o lavagna con l’intarsio di una rosa al centro e dei fiorellini di campo. Degne di nota le foglie verdi per le quali sono state scelte pietre dure con sfumature chiaroscurali naturali che danno una bella profondità alla composizione floreale. All’interno dell’antina ovale troviamo una fodera verde stampata in oro con la dicitura G. Montelatici 7 Lung’Arno Corsini Firenze con giglio fiorentino al centro.  Giovanni Montelatici...

Silver “Jambiya” or Curved Dagger With Its Sheath. These are often Extremely well Crafted with Extraordinary inlaid Silver Designs accentuated with “Neillo”. They Often have Ivory Ha...

Presenting an absolutely gorgeous and extremely unique and rare 19th century British Tunbridgeware hair pin/bobbin or slide. This slide is unlike any of it’s kind we have seen before…. it is a very rare survivor ! From circa 1860–1880. Made of walnut with gorgeous marquetry inlay on the entirety of the front with classic Tunbridgeware micro-mosaic all over the front. The rear is walnut. The marquetry inlay appears to be various different woods, namely, maple, walnut and satinwood. Would have been worn in a Lady’s hair bun with the micro-mosaic facing forward. This would have belonged to a very elegant lady in the mid to late 19th century. Tunbridge ware is a form of decoratively inlaid woodwork, typically in the form of boxes, that is characteristic of Tonbridge and the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent in the 18th and 19th centuries. The decoration typically consists of a mosaic of many very small pieces of different coloured woods that form a pictorial vignette. Shaped rods and slivers of wood were first carefully glued together, then cut into many thin slices of identical pictorial veneer with a fine saw. Elaborately striped and feathered bandings for framing were pre-formed in a similar fashion. There is a collection of Tunbridge ware in the Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery in Tunbridge Wells. The famous makers of Tunbridge ware were in the Tunbridge Wells area of Kent; their most notable work was from circa 1830-1900. Early makers of Tunbridge ware, in Tunbridge Wells in the mid-18th century, were the Burrows family, and Fenner and Co. In the 19th century, around 1830, James Burrows invented a technique of creating mosaics from wooden tesserae. Henry Hollamby, apprenticed to the Burrows family, set up on his own in 1842 and became an important manufacturer of Tunbridge ware, employing about 40 people. Edmund Nye (1797–1863) and his father took over the Fenner company when William Fenner retired in 1840, after 30 years in partnership with him. Thomas Barton (1819–1903), previously apprenticed at the Wise factory, joined the Nyes in 1836, and worked as Nye’s designer; he took over the business in 1863 and continued there until his death. In Tonbridge (near to Tunbridge Wells), George Wise (1703–1779) is known to have had a business in 1746. It continued with his son Thomas, and Thomas’s nephew George (1779–1869), who took over in 1806. In its early years the company made articles such as workboxes and tea caddies with prints of popular views; later items had pictures created from mosaics. Their workshop in Tonbridge, Wise’s Tunbridge Ware Manufactory, was next to the Big Bridge over the Medway; the building was demolished in 1886 to widen the approach to the bridge. Tunbridge ware became popular with visitors to the spa town of Tunbridge Wells, who bought them as souvenirs and gifts. Articles included cribbage boards, paperweights, writing slopes, snuffboxes and glove boxes. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, Tunbridge ware by Edmund Nye, Robert Russell and Henry Hollamby was shown; Edmund Nye received a commendation from the judges for his work. He exhibited a table depicting a mosaic of a ship at sea; 110,800 tesserae were used in making the picture. The manufacturers of Tunbridge ware were cottage industries, and they were no more than nine in Tunbridge Wells and one in Tonbridge. The number declined in the 1880s; competent craftsmen were hard to find, and public tastes changed. After the death of Thomas Barton in 1903 the only surviving firm was Boyce, Brown and Kemp, which closed in 1927. Marquetry was an old technique which was continued by Nye and Barton to create images such as birds or butterflies. ‘Green Oak’ as caused by the fungus Chlorociboria aeruginascens. Stickware and half-square mosaic was invented by James Burrows in about 1830: a bunch of wooden sticks of different colours, each having triangular or diamond-shaped cross section, were tightly glued together; in the case of stickware, the resulting block was dried, then turned to form an article such as the base of a pincushion. For half-square mosaic, thin slices were taken from the composite block, and applied to a surface.[1][2][4] Tesselated mosaic, was a development by James Burrows of half-square mosaic; it was adopted by George Wise and Edmund Nye. Minute tesserae were used to form a wide variety of geometric and pictorial designs. Many sorts of wood were used for the various colours; about 40 were in regular use. Only natural colors were used; green was provided by “green oak”, produced by the action of fungus on fallen oak. Designs for articles were often taken from designs of Berlin wool work.

Crucifix from the mid-1800s with a carved shroud or veil depicting Christ in the base. This unique and remarkable antique crucifix can both be used as a table and as a wall crucifix. Over the decades we have sold a number of unique and very well crafted crucifixes, but never one in the Art Deco style with this combination of materials and techniques. The overall design and size is what stands out first, but the details and the materials are what make this antique work of religious art extraordinary. The relatively large base of this unique crucifix is a work of religious art in its own right. It is almost as if the cross is growing from this beautiful base and the cross itself too comes with a number of superbly inlays details. With their symbolic meaning of birth and resurrection it is obvious why the artist / sculptor so tastefully incorporated them here. Apart from a minor 'lean' to the left, the cross itself too is in excellent condition. If one were to speak of a trinity in this crucifix then the unique base and cross are completed with an equally striking, solid bronze corpus of Christ...

Antique Victorian Micromosaic Brooch with Gilded Framing, Italy early 20th Century A Victorian micromosaic brooch with a central floral bouquet motif and the inscription "ROMA". Sur...

Rare, meaningful, practical, handcrafted and highly decorative antique table. This one of a kind table will appeal to spiritual people and collectors of stylish, rare and meaningful...

This is a 19th century antique hardwood inlaid banjo barometer with a thermometer and a 10' silvered dial, brass bezel with convex glass. It is a very...

Beautiful pair of vintage Middle Eastern tribal fibulas. A fibula was used to close a woman's veil in the Middle East and Africa. Handcrafted by Berber a...

Game box, 19th century. Napoleon III period game box, 19th century in precious wood marquetry. Measures: H: 5 cm, W: 22 cm, D: 13 cm.

Dutch extra long Mahogany Measure Bar, 1894 by Sande-Beskens A mahogany in Dutch an "Elle stok" measures bar by J. & A.V.D. Sande-Beskens, Nederlands Z...

Adams style, 1911, Bluthner grand piano with a french polished, quarter cut, satinwood case with boxwood stringing inlay and crossbanding accents. The satinwood veneer of the cabinet...

American Chippendale walnut and mahogany graduated five-drawer miniature chest of drawers with satinwood string inlay, inlaid escutcheons, original brass knobs and terminating on bra...

Exquisite decorative panel inspired by the architecture of the Alhambra in Granada, with detailed wood marquetry work and golden elements. The piece features two raised arches with a...

1970s oriental horsewhip of leather and marquetry.

Each w o o d p o p balance board is meticulously handcrafted in our Black Mountains workshop in the UK. Doubling up as an integral part of any fitness r...

This wooden vessel is a Japanese tabako-bon, or 'tobacco tray,' used in tandem with a smoking pipe. Believed to have evolved from the traditional accessor...

This tzedakah (charity) box, crafted by Brooklyn-based artists Lorelei and Alex Gruss in the year 2000, is an exquisite example of Judaic artistry. The design features a silhouette of a cityscape, likely evoking Jerusalem, rendered in gold-toned metal with intricate cutouts. The background is inlaid with iridescent mother-of-pearl, lending the piece a luminous, ethereal quality. Beneath the cityscape, the Hebrew word “צדקה” (tzedakah) is prominently displayed, symbolizing the Jewish practice of charitable giving. Two decorative blue gemstones, set into two stars of David, enhance the front, adding a touch of color and sophistication. The box’s wooden structure complements the gold-toned metal and mother-of-pearl inlay, creating a harmonious blend of materials. This beautifully crafted tzedakah box...

A beautifully made fully functional miniature chest of drawers. This three-drawer chest of mahogany with inlaid panels of satinwood and pencil inlay. Only 11 inches tall, this chest ...