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This decorative plate is worked in marble inlay, the craft of setting hand-cut coloured stone into recesses carved in a marble base. The technique is known in India as parchin kari, the same stone inlay seen on the walls of the Taj Mahal, carried for generations by the inlay workshops of Agra. Each piece of stone is shaped by hand and fitted so the joins sit almost invisibly flush with the surface. Meant to be seen rather than used at the table, it suits a console, a shelf, or a wall; for the exact stones, base, and dimensions, see the specifications.
NA Wipe with a soft dry cloth. Keep away from moisture.
Each piece is handcrafted, so slight variations in colour, texture and dimension are natural and celebrate its handmade origin.
A marble inlay plate is made to be looked at, so place it where the light can find the stone. Inlaid semi-precious stone catches and returns light in a way a flat print never will. A spot near a window or a warm lamp brings out the depth of the colours.
On a console or sideboard, stand the plate upright on a small easel or plate stand rather than laying it flat, so the design faces the room. Give it clear space on either side; a single inlaid piece reads as art, while a crowded shelf reads as clutter. A plain wall behind it lets the inlay carry the eye.
Mounted on a wall, treat it as you would a small framed work. Hang it at eye level, away from direct midday sun, which over years can fade softer stones. A pale or neutral wall sets off the white marble and the coloured inlay best.
Marble is heavier and more brittle than it looks, so use a fixing or stand rated for the weight and keep it clear of busy walkways where a knock could chip an edge. Dust it with a soft dry cloth. Treated as a showpiece rather than tableware, it holds its finish for decades.
Marble inlay is built the opposite way to a painting. Nothing is laid on the surface. The colour comes from real stone set into the marble itself, a technique called pietra dura in its Italian form and parchin kari in India, where Agra has been its centre since the era of the Taj Mahal.
The work begins with a design traced onto a polished marble base, usually white. Following that drawing, shallow recesses are carved out of the marble by hand, each one the exact shape of a piece of the picture. This carving is unforgiving, because a recess cut too wide leaves a gap that no later step can hide.
The colour is then chosen stone by stone. Semi-precious materials such as malachite, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and mother of pearl are picked for hue and graining, then cut and ground to fit their recess precisely. A single petal may call for two or three shades of one stone to suggest light falling across it.
Each piece is set into its recess and fixed, and the whole surface is then polished flat. Done well, the joins between stone and marble are almost invisible to the eye and smooth to the fingertip, so the plate reads as one continuous surface rather than a set of separate pieces.
The surest tell of genuine inlay is exactly this. Run a finger over the design and you should feel no ridge between the stone and the marble, and a close look should show fitted stone boundaries rather than printed or painted lines. A flat, glossy, perfectly uniform pattern is the sign of an imitation, not hand-cut inlay.
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Marble inlay is a Mughal heritage craft where hand-cut semi-precious stones are fitted into marble without adhesives, forming luminous floral and geometric designs.
