Piqué work was a type of decorative work made by inlaying tiny points or pins of gold or other precious metals in patterns or pictures on tortoiseshell from the now endangered

Hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution that is largel ...

(''Eretmochelys imbricata'') or, less commonly, ivory. The craft reached its height in 17th and 18th century France, and was highly prized. One remarkable workshop was working in Naples around 1740 and was headed by Giussepe Sarao. In 1770

Matthew Boulton Matthew Boulton ( ; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and silversmith. He was a business partner of the Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the par ...

developed methods of producing piqué work panels in factories.''The New Encyclopædia Britannica'', 15th Edition, Vol. VII, p. 1025.

Footnotes

* Alexis Kugel, ''Piqué: Gold, Tortoiseshell and Mother-of-Pearl at the Court of Naples''. Milan: Kugel/Rizzoli, 2018.

External links

* Illustrations of piqué-work from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

* "Tortoiseshell Snuff Boxes." Well-illustrated downloadable article in pdf file from

Decorative arts {{decorative-art-stub