Sandalwood Book Stand with Silver Inlay

• Inlay - Decorative patterns inserted into the main body of a piece of furniture, generally in wood of contrasting colour and grain, though brass, ivory, ebony, shell and sometimes horn have been used. Inlay may consist of a panel of well figured timber inset into a cabinet door front, geometric patterns, or complex and stylized designs of flowers, swags of foliage, fruits and other motifs. As a general rule, in pieces where the carcase is constructed in the solid, the inlay is relatively simple such as stringing, cross banding and herringbone banding. Where more elaborate and decorative work was required veneer was used. Inlay has been fashionable from at least the latter half of the 17th century, when a variety of elaborate forms were developed
• Sandalwood - Sandalwood is a heavy, yellow coloured and very fine-grained timber, which has a fragrance which lasts for many decades, and acts as a deterent to moths and insects.
  
  In the British colonial era, sandalwood was imported into Britain from India, and the wood also used within India for the manufacture of Anglo-Indian furniture.
  
  Becasue it does not have a distinct grain pattern, sandalwood was not used for the exterior surfaces of furniture, but was put to use for drawer and box linings, where the aroma was noticeable one the object was opened. it was also used to manufacture small objects (treen).
  
  Nowadays sandalwood is commercially grown with Australia the largest producer. As well as producing timber, oil is extracted for use in the manufacture of perfumes.
• Ebony - Ebony is a close grained timber, black in colour. It has a fine texture which can be polished to a high gloss, making it suitable for venereering, inlay and stringing and its use as solid timber is resticted to small decorative items and ornamental decoration, such as chess pieces and musical instrument parts. The term "ebonised" means "faux ebony", timber that has been darkened during the polishing process to resemble ebony.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Anglo-Indian Vizagapatam and sadeli boxes - sewing and other boxes 338
• furniture, items - wooden reading stands and tables 35