Furniture can be decorated in many ways, such as carving, gilding, lacquering and inlay. With regards to inlay, there are two terms that crop up regularly - parquetry and marquetry.

Both terms hark back to the Italian Renaissance of the 16th and very early 17th centuries and were used throughout Europe. One - parquet - refers to an inlay in veneers (thin slithers of wood) of different timbers in a geometric design that usually took the form of cubes, lozenges or trellis. The other - marquetry - refers normally to intricate floral designs, sometimes with birds. To tell which is which, think of parquet flooring - the geometric arrangement of wooden blocks that we see in halls or reception rooms of houses.