Forum Pakistan

Incrustation or inlaid work
This is mostly connected with the Muslim tradition in South Asia. Incrustation flourished during the *Mughal empire. In architecture, inlays in marble on red sandstone were first made in the *Delhi Sultanate period (thirteenth-fourteenth centuries). Under Akbar, inlays in semiprecious stones on marble became widespread. The best works in this style were created under Shah Jahan. Inlaid ornaments are characteristic of Muslim culture: arabesques, panels with pictures of trees and birds, geometrical, and floral designs. Shellac was used as reinforcement in inlays. The surface was carefully polished. A cheaper kind of inlay existed in the Mughal period; namely, mosaics of mirrors and coloured glass on walls covered with plaster.
The most common type of inlays found in decorative applied art were ivory incrustations in wood, and in coloured varieties of wood and brass wire. Pieces of furniture and various household objects were inlaid especially boxes and caskets, as well as musical instruments. The objects were made of heavy varieties of hardwood, mahogany, and ebony. Inlays in particoloured varieties of wood are reminiscent of marquetry. The best works in this technique are manufactured in the *Punjab. At the beginning of the nineteenth century a new technique came from Iran of inlays on ivory, painted hom and wood, combined with carved panels and ivory plates.

Legend links inlaid metalwork or koftgari with the name of the well-known Sufi, Haji Muinuddin Chisbti (1326-1411). Inlaid metalwork declined in popularity during the Mughal period. Especially difficult was incrustation on steel objects, including damask steel of which weapons and armour were made. Steel was inlaid with gold. The surface of the object was polished with agate and cleaned with lemon juice. The main centres of the manufacture of these objects were Delhi and Lahore. All these types of inlays are still practised.