This is a beautiful antique sideboard with exceptional marquetry.  Marquetry is an ancient decorative technique where thin sheets of material, called veneer, are glued on to the surface of furniture.  Veneers were mostly fine wood (shell and sometimes ivory were also used) and once cut and put together, created patterns, designs or pictures – almost like painting with wood on wood. Marquetry differs from inlay in that veneers are glued to the surface, whereas inlays are created by cutting in the main surface of the wood and filling in the recesses.  The practice of marquetry originated in ancient Egypt, was later adopted by the Romans, and continued to further develop in the17th - 19th centuries in Europe, becoming a hallmark of the style and elegance of European design.