Moors in Spain; and
in Venice there was a quarter inhabited by workmen of the latter race
who made both metal work and objects in wood. Except for the inlaid
ivory casket in the Capella Palatina, at Palermo, which seems to be a
work of Norman times, we have no work of the kind which can be dated
with precision before the appearance in the north of Italy of the
similar "lavoro alla Certosa," or "tarsia alla Certosina"; but since
inlaying with small pieces of marble and vitreous pastes was practised
in central and southern Italy certainly from the 12th century, there is
little difficulty in imagining how its use arose. This work has its
derivative still existing in England in the so-called "Tonbridge ware,"
which is made by arranging rods of wood in a pattern and glueing them
together, after which sections are sliced off--the same proceeding, in
effect, as that which the Egyptians made use of with rods or threads of
glass. One must allow, however, that the wooden border inlays, which are
also placed under this heading, show greater craft mastery, as the
examples appended show, which are typical instances. The chair-back from
S. Ambrogio, Milan, is a characteristic example of the simpler form on a
tolerably large scale.

[Illustration: Plate 1.--_Patterns used in Borders._

_To face page 8._]

[Illustration: Plate 2.--_Various Patterns of Borders._]

Historians are agreed that the cradle of Italian carving and inlaying
was Siena, where there is mention of a certain Manuello, who, with his
son Parti, worked in the ancient choir of the Cathedral in 1259.
Orvieto was another place where tarsia work was made at an early date,
but the craftsmen were all Sienese. Mastro Vanni di Tura dell' Ammanato,
the Sienese, made the design of the stalls for the Cathedral in 1331,
and commenced the work, some remains of which are still preserved in the
Museum of the Opera del Duomo. Twenty-eight artists were employed on
these stalls; Giovanni Talini, Meo di Nuti, and others, all Sienese,
assisted him, but he died before they were finished, and they remained
incomplete till 1414, when Domenico di Nicolo is recorded as undertaking
the work; but neither did he finish it, for in 1431 the overseers gave
it to Pietro di Minella, and then to his brother Antonio, and to
Giovanni di Lodovico di Magno. The woods used were ebony, box, walnut,
and white poplar, and the cost was 3152 lire. In the 14th century tarsia
was executed at Siena, Assisi, whe