The origin of the Boulle marquetry can be traced to the Indian, Persian, and Damascus encrusted inlays in ivory, ebony, nacre, and metal, that found their way to Venice, Portugal, Spain, and France in the Middle Ages. These works consisted chiefly of caskets, coffers, and small pieces of furniture. In the inventories of Charles V. of France (1380) mention is made of lecterns and coffers of inlaid ivory or bone, in ebony, and similar works are mentioned in the inventories of Charles VI. (1418), and of Anne of Brittany (1498). These are the earliest notices of marquetry furniture that was made in France, and was probably an imitation of Oriental work. In the Renaissance period François I. bought some magnificent furniture of Indian workmanship, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, from Portuguese merchants, and mention is made of chairs, tables, coffers, cabinets, and mirror-frames that belonged to Queen Marie de’ Médicis (1600), the Cardinal d’Amboise (1550), and other great persons of the French Court, all of which works were made in marquetry. In France before the sixteenth century, tortoiseshell, brass, tin, and exotic woods were used as inlays, in addition to the ivory, ebony, and nacre of the East. From this it will be seen that Boulle did not invent the celebrated marquetry that bears his name. He, however, brought this sumptuous form of cabinet work to great perfection, and under the patronage of Louis XIV. he had every opportunity to develop his artistic abilities to the utmost. The method of procedure in the making of the Boulle marquetry was, first, to prepare the veneers of wood, shell, tin, and brass of the same thickness, each having perfectly plain surfaces; these veneers were then glued together in pairs of opposite materials, according to the nature of the effect required in the finished work, and were held together firmly in a vice. The design was then traced on the surface of the upper leaf, and the veneers were then cut through the lines of the pattern with a burin, a sharp strong knife, or a fine saw; thus four pieces of marquetry were made at one cutting. When the plaque forming the design was composed of tin or brass, which was afterwards engraved or chased, it was technically called “boulle”; and when the design was formed by the shell or ebony it was called “counter”; the two effects are together known as “boulle and counter,” or _première et contre-partie_. A later kind of Boulle work, known as the Second Style, has the shell veneers laid on a clouded vermilion or on a gilt ground.