Sulphur inlay is a rarely used technique for decorative surface inlay

Inlay

Inlay is a decorative technique of inserting pieces of contrasting, often coloured materials into depressions in a base object to form patterns or pictures that normally are flush with the matrix. In a wood matrix, inlays commonly use wood veneers, but other materials like shells, mother-of-pearl,...

 in wooden cabinetmaking.

The technique originates in the 18th century, but was only used for a short period. Between 1765 and around 1820, German immigrant

Pennsylvania Dutch

Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...

 cabinetmakers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...

 used it to decorate the surface of chests. The Deitrich chest of 1783 is now in the Smithsonian

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

.

Commercial reproducers of such chests may rarely re-create this inlay technique as well.

Technique

The inlay technique is simple. A small groove is carved into the surface of the wood, then molten sulphur is poured into the groove. Once cooled and hard, the surface may easily be scraped flush.

Sulphur is used as it has a low-melting point, which may be easily achieved on a hotplate. This also reduces any risk of charring the wood. On cooling, sulphur also expands slightly, locking it into place.

The colour of the sulphur inlay is a pale yellow or off-white. Overheating the sulphur causes it to darken to brown, along with noxious fumes and the risk of fire. When studying historical examples, antiquarians unfamiliar with sulphur inlay have mistaken it for varieties of beeswax

Beeswax

Beeswax is a natural wax produced in the bee hive of honey bees of the genus Apis. It is mainly esters of fatty acids and various long chain alcohols...

 or white lead

White lead

White lead is the chemical compound 2·Pb2. It was formerly used as an ingredient for lead paint and a cosmetic called Venetian Ceruse, because its opaque quality made it a good pigment. However, it tended to cause lead poisoning, and its use has been banned in most countries.White lead has been...

.

Related techniques

• Pewter
  Pewter
  Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...
  
   may be inlaid by a similar process, albeit rather hotter, giving a silvery metallic inlay. Wood's metal
  Wood's metal
  Wood's metal, also known as Lipowitz's alloy or by the commercial names cerrobend, bendalloy, pewtalloy or MCP 158, is a eutectic, fusible alloy with a melting point of approximately . It is a eutectic alloy of 50% bismuth, 26.7% lead, 13.3% tin, and 10% cadmium by weight. It...
  
   has also been used as a low-temperature alternative.

• Sulphur has also been used as a historical hot-melt glue for setting ironwork into stone, or for bonding stone together.

• Niello
  Niello
  Niello is a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal...
  
  uses the darkening effect of sulphur compounds on silver.