Pietra dura

Pietra dura, pietre dure or intarsia lapidary, called parchin kari or parchinkari in the Indian subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. It is considered a decorative art.

The stonework, after the work is assembled loosely, is glued stone-by-stone to a substrate after having previously been "sliced and cut in different shape sections, and then assembled together so precisely that the contact between each section was practically invisible".
Stability was achieved by grooving the undersides of the stones so that they interlocked, rather like a jigsaw puzzle, with everything held tautly in place by an encircling 'frame'.
Many different colored stones, particularly marbles, were used, along with semiprecious, and even precious stones.

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Source: Wikipedia · Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain