private collection
This little cabinet employs several different techniques. The basic wood is zebrawood, quarter sawn for its parallel stripes. The pieces are cut into squares and pieced together with every other one turned ninety degrees. The largest parquetry parts are at the bottom and every row gets a little smaller as it ascends.
The four plaques with the panthers are done with the technique called boulle work. Two pieces of contrasting material (in this case brass and bog oak) are laid on top of one another and the motif is cut out. (Here I actually used four layers, two oak and two brass). This yielded four identical copies of the panther, two black and two yellow. I then added a little redwood and holly for the tongues and teeth.
The top is black granite and the base is white oak.