Thursday, January 20, 2011

Marble inlay


Besides the beauty of the structure itself, the Taj Majal is best known for its marble inlay work. Here you see a floral border which is all inlay work with each piece of the border separately cut and polished, then a matching recess cut into the marble for literally a perfect fit and finally glued into place. The ancestors of the original carvers still live next to the Taj over 400 years later and continue to do restoration work. In the last photo the letters are huge, some measuring three feet across, and carved from a single piece of onyx then inlaid. Perfect fit. Amazing craftsmanship.

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