Intarsia

[2] When Egypt came under Arab rule in the seventh century, indigenous arts of intarsia and wood inlay, which lent themselves to non-representational decors and tiling patterns, spread throughout the Maghreb.

[3] The technique of intarsia was already perfected in Islamic North Africa before it was introduced into Christian Europe through Sicily and Andalusia.

The most elaborate examples of intarsia can be found in cabinets of this period, which were items of great luxury and prestige.

Intarsia gained popularity in the United States in the 1980s as a wooden art technique using a band saw or scroll saw.

[6][7] Intarsia uses varied shapes, sizes, and species of wood fitted together to create a mosaic-like picture with an illusion of depth.

The completed individual pieces fit together like a jig-saw puzzle, glued to a wooden backer-board cut to the outline of the pattern.