The art of marble inlay is a traditional form of art which is confined to the Muslim community of Agra.
Work begins by careful planning of designs, which is done by the “Ustad” or the master craftsman
After a design has been chosen, the “Ustad” sets the colour scheme and totality of the design. This is followed by a careful selection of raw material (like various semiprecious stones and marble), which is selected by the experienced master craftsman. During this process, special emphasis is laid on choosing various shades of semiprecious stones to give the right gradation and shading to the flowers and other motifs.
The selected stones are then shaped with the help of, especially made emery wheels. Each part of the design is shaped individually, which requires a lot of patience. At times a single Magnolia flower may have more than 100 individual pieces and may require about one week to make.
Once all the stones are shaped, work passes to a different group of artisans who specialize in inlaying the stone motifs in marble. Here grooves are cut in the marble with a help of an iron chisel. The grooves are made exactly of the same size so that the stones can fit perfectly in them. The stones are set in the grooves by special glues. This is followed by hand polishing of the marble article, which is done with the help of a traditional polishing powder which is applied on the surface with a soft, moist muslin cloth
Finally, the article is checked carefully for any shortcomings, which if present are rectified before shipping to the customer.
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