At a glance
| Word | What the sources say | Write it as |
|---|---|---|
| Parquet (the floor) | Pieces of solid or engineered wood, from 5/16 to 3/4 in (8 to 19 mm) thick, laid or assembled into panels in a pattern: the floor itself (NWFA) | ‘[pattern] parquet floor, [species], [size], [thickness], [bonding]’ |
| Parquetry | ‘Marquetry executed in a geometrical pattern, used especially for floors’ (Getty AAT). Museum records use it for geometric veneer on furniture (V&A) | ‘parquetry panel: [pattern] in [veneers] on [ground]’. Not a word for a floor of blocks |
| Marquetry | Small pieces of shaped wood, or other material, incorporated into a surface of decorative veneer; the entire surface is veneered (Getty AAT). Glued to the surface, not cut into it (V&A) | ‘marquetry panel to drawing [ref]: [species], [hand or laser cut], on [ground]’ |
| Inlay | Pieces of one material inserted into a larger piece of another to make a design (Getty AAT); set into a solid ground. Stringing is a fine inlaid line (V&A) | ‘inlay: [material, size] set in a [groove or recess] in [solid timber]’ |
| Intarsia | Italian term for assembling small shaped wood pieces, commonly used for both marquetry and wood inlay (Getty AAT) | Avoid. Say marquetry or inlay, and which |
| Boulle work, pietra dura | Boulle: marquetry of brass and tortoiseshell. Pietra dura: hard polished stone set into marble or another hard surface (Getty AAT) | Name the material; state the substitute for any restricted one |
Definitions are the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus (scope notes retrieved 5 Nov 2026), V&A object records and the National Wood Flooring Association's Ornamental Floors (B300, 2015, US). BS EN 13756:2018 is the wood-flooring terminology standard: named, not read.
What the sources say, and where the words collide
These words are used loosely, even in museums. The Getty Research Institute's Art & Architecture Thesaurus says the term intarsia ‘is commonly used to describe both’ marquetry and wood inlay, and the V&A's object records use marquetry, inlay and parquetry in the ways the table gives. The difference that matters to a specifier is the order of work and the ground. In marquetry the pieces are cut and assembled first, as one thin sheet, and then laid on a ground, so the entire surface is veneered. In inlay a recess is cut first in a solid body and the piece is set into it. A V&A record for an English cabinet of about 1700 puts it this way: rather than being cut into the carcase wood like inlay, marquetry is glued to the surface.
Three traps follow, and each one has cost someone a wrong quote.
- Parquet and parquetry. In the wood-flooring trade, parquet is the floor: solid or engineered pieces from 5/16 to 3/4 in (8 to 19 mm) thick, laid or assembled into panels. The Getty's parquetry is geometric marquetry, and so is made of veneer. A herringbone floor of blocks is a parquet floor. It is not marquetry, and it is not usually called parquetry.
- Inlay on a floor. The National Wood Flooring Association uses the word for a manufactured motif, often a medallion, routed into the finished floor, and for a metal strip set into a channel. That is closer to the Getty's inlay than to a veneered panel, but it is a ready-made piece set into a floor, not a recess cut in solid timber for a piece made to fit.
- Intarsia. It means marquetry to some people and inlay to others, so a specification that uses it needs the word it stands for written beside it.
Our live marquetry article treats parquetry as a geometric kind of marquetry, which is the Getty's definition too, and our marquetry page lists marquetry flooring medallions and borders among the places the technique is applied. For the pattern names of parquet floors see the parquet pattern atlas, and for borders and medallions as installed borders, frames, medallions and inlays in wood floors.
Side by side
The rows are qualitative and are partly our reading: partner workshops confirm the thickness, the fixing and the floor suitability of anything they make.
| Pieces, thickness and ground | On a floor | Wear, repair and what drives the cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parquet floor | Solid or engineered pieces, 8 to 19 mm (NWFA), on the subfloor: bonded, or nailed for some 3/4 in parquet | It is the floor | The wear layer sets the sanding allowance: see solid vs engineered. Cost: species, block size, pattern, set-out, labour |
| Parquetry (veneer) | Thin geometric pieces of veneer (our veneer article: typically under a millimetre) on a board panel, usually ply or MDF, with a balancing veneer behind | Only as a panel with a protected face: workshop to say | A thin face has a small sanding allowance (our inference). Cost: number of pieces, species, panel size |
| Marquetry | A picture of thin veneer, shell, metal or other pieces, hand cut or laser cut, on a ground as for parquetry | Listed for floor medallions and borders on our marquetry page: face, ground and finish to be agreed | As parquetry; repair is a workshop matter. Cost: hand or laser cutting, number and species of pieces, shading, size |
| Inlay | A strip or shape set flush in a groove or recess in solid timber or a floor. Our metal inlay guide gives strips 1 to 3 mm wide; NWFA prefers 1/4 in (6.4 mm) nonferrous metal for floors | Yes: routed into a laid floor; nonferrous metal if sanded on site (NWFA) | Sanded flush with the floor; a strip can be re-set (our reading). Cost: accuracy of the groove, the metal or stone, length of line |
How to write each into a specification
Whatever the craft, a specification for a decorative surface says the same eight things. The word alone is not enough, because the word is what gets confused.
- 1. The word, and what it means. ‘Marquetry (a picture cut and assembled from veneer, then laid as one sheet)’ takes ten words and saves an argument.
- 2. The drawing. Pattern, scale, direction and the position of every part. A name alone describes nothing.
- 3. The pieces. Species and materials, with a named substitute for any restricted one. Dyed or natural.
- 4. The ground. What it is, how thick, and for a floor the total thickness against the field.
- 5. The cutting. Hand cut, laser cut or both, and the tolerance at the joints.
- 6. The fixing. Bonded, pressed, pinned, set flush, and when on a floor.
- 7. The finish and protection. Oil, lacquer or other, and what protects a thin face in use.
- 8. The sample. A sample approved before production, including a sanding test where a floor is to be sanded on site. See sample hierarchy and approval.
Common mistake: calling a herringbone floor ‘marquetry’, asking for ‘inlay’ when a veneered panel is meant, or specifying ‘parquet’ for a veneered table top. Each sends the enquiry to a different craft at a different price, and the first quote then has to be rewritten.
On a floor: what changes
Most of what is written about decorative floors is about parquet, and the National Wood Flooring Association's Ornamental Floors is the nearest thing to a trade-body guide. It is American and was not written for marquetry, but several points carry over to anything set into a floor.
- Thickness. Verify the actual thickness of a medallion, border or feature strip against the field, because stated sizes may be nominal. If the motif is thinner, the subfloor is built up beneath it. See floor build-up heights.
- Order of work. A manufactured inlay goes in after the floor is laid, so it fits. The position is approved by the client and signed off, the opening is routed to a template in several passes, and the inlay is set as soon as possible after routing, because the field can close up around the opening.
- Metal and stone. NWFA says not to use ferrous metals such as steel and stainless steel, because of sparks during sanding, and to use nonferrous metals, with a preferred thickness of 1/4 in. Most stone inserts are not sanded, and glass and leather are not sanded at all.
- Movement. Wood expands and contracts with humidity, where stone and metal react only to temperature. A mixed-material floor has to be drawn for both.
For a veneered marquetry or parquetry panel as a medallion or border, none of the documents we read gives a face thickness, a wear allowance or a repair method. These are the questions for the partner workshop: how thin the face is, what it is bonded to, what protects it, whether it can be sanded, and how it is repaired. Our metal inlay guide notes that the work sits at the meeting of metalwork and woodwork. See floor transitions and movement joints for brass strips between floors.
Materials that need a second look
Historic marquetry used ivory, bone and tortoiseshell: the Getty describes Boulle work as marquetry of brass and tortoiseshell. Our live marquetry pages say that today's equivalents are substitutes and acrylic sheet, so write the substitute you want, by material, and do not write the historic one. Some timbers used in marquetry, including some of the genus Dalbergia (the rosewoods), can be controlled. GOV.UK says a CITES permit or certificate is needed to bring protected plants and plant products into Great Britain, naming woods such as Dalbergia among them, and says to contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency about household items. Ask the workshop for the species list, the origin of each timber and the paperwork that goes with it, and see specifying FSC and PEFC for chain-of-custody wording. We read only parts of the two GOV.UK pages, so check the rules for your timber and your route with the agency.
Specification wording
Paste into your schedule or specification and replace anything in [square brackets] with your own figures. Wording is a starting point: your specification governs.
Parquet floor to layout drawing [ref]: [herringbone, 90 x 450 mm blocks] in [species, grade], [solid / engineered], total thickness [ ] mm, wear layer [ ] mm, fully bonded to [subfloor], finish [ ]. Border and apron as drawing [ref]. Terms as BS EN 13756 [confirm current edition].
[Marquetry / parquetry] panel to drawing [ref]: [pictorial / geometric] design, cut and assembled as one sheet from [veneer species list, ref], [hand cut / laser cut / both], veneer thickness [ ] mm, laid on [ground, thickness [ ] mm] with a balancing veneer on the reverse. Finish [ ]. Where historic work used tortoiseshell, ivory or bone, the substitute is [material]. Species and origin documentation supplied. Sample [ref] approved before production.
Inlay: [brass] strip [1.5 x 12] mm set flush in a groove cut in [solid timber, species], bonded with [adhesive], corners [mitred], finish [ ]. Groove [ ] mm wide by [ ] mm deep to drawing [ref]. Metal is nonferrous where the floor is sanded on site. Sample including a sanding test approved before production.
[Medallion, diameter [ ] mm / border, width [ ] mm], craft [marquetry / parquet / inlay], to drawing [ref]. Total thickness [ ] mm to match the field. Installed after the surrounding floor is laid, position approved on site before the opening is cut, and set within [ ] hours of cutting it. Face and wear layer [ ] mm, finished and protected as the workshop specifies for floor use. [Stone, glass or leather: not sanded.]
Terms used on this page
- Marquetry
- Small pieces of shaped wood, or other material, incorporated into a surface of decorative veneer, so that the entire surface is veneered (Getty AAT). Cut and assembled first, then laid on a ground.
- Inlay
- A process in which small pieces of one material are inserted into a larger piece of another to make a design (Getty AAT): in a solid ground, the recess is cut first.
- Parquetry
- Marquetry executed in a geometrical pattern, used especially for floors (Getty AAT).
- Parquet
- In the flooring trade, a floor of solid or engineered wood pieces, 8 to 19 mm thick, laid or assembled into panels in a pattern (NWFA).
Standards and sources
- Getty Research Institute, Art & Architecture Thesaurus: inlay, marquetry, intarsia, parquetry, boulle work, pietra dura, banding: scope notes read 5 Nov 2026.
- V&A collection records O119198, O120865, O61542, O63424: read through the museum's API.
- NWFA, Ornamental Floors: Design & Installation (B300, 3rd ed., 2015): read, pages 3 to 5 and 15 to 18; US usage.
- BS EN 13756:2018 Wood flooring and parquet. Terminology: BSI listing read, current; text not read.
- GOV.UK, bringing endangered species (CITES) and CITES imports and exports (updated 23 June 2026): parts read.
Questions we are asked
What is the difference between marquetry and parquetry?
Marquetry builds a picture or pattern from small shaped pieces of veneer, assembled as one sheet and laid on a ground. The Getty defines parquetry as marquetry in a geometrical pattern, used especially for floors, so it is the geometric kind of the same craft. In the flooring trade the word parquet means something else: a floor of solid or engineered pieces.
What is the difference between marquetry and inlay?
The order of work. In inlay a recess is cut in a solid ground and the piece is set into it. In marquetry the design is cut and assembled first, then laid, so the whole surface is veneered. The V&A puts it as marquetry being glued to the surface rather than cut into the carcase like inlay.
Is a herringbone floor parquetry or marquetry?
It is a parquet floor: solid or engineered blocks laid in a pattern, 8 to 19 mm thick in the National Wood Flooring Association's description. It is not marquetry. Write ‘herringbone parquet floor’, with the block size, species and thickness.
What is intarsia?
An Italian term, from the 15th century, for assembling small shaped pieces of wood into a design. The Getty says it is commonly used for both marquetry and wood inlay, so a specification should say which is meant.
Can a floor be marquetry?
Our marquetry page lists marquetry flooring medallions and borders among the places the technique is applied. For a floor, the workshop must say how thick the face is, what it is bonded to, what protects it and whether it can be sanded. None of the documents we read gives those figures.
How do I specify a brass line in a floor?
Use nonferrous metal, because ferrous metals such as steel and stainless can spark during sanding (NWFA), set it flush in a routed channel, bond and pin it, and have a sample with a sanding test approved. See the borders, frames, medallions and inlays sheet for the strip detail.
What is Boulle work today?
The Getty defines Boulle work as marquetry of brass and tortoiseshell, applied to furniture especially in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Our live pages say that today's equivalents of tortoiseshell are substitutes and acrylic sheet, so specify the substitute by material.
Download the factsheet
A two-page A4 PDF with the definitions, the four-way drawing and specification wording, to keep with your project file.