Alardus van den Bosch is a designer and craftsman known for wood inlay, working in the intarsia tradition. Born in the Netherlands in a rural area between s-Hertogenbosch and Nijmegen, he grew up close to furniture-making culture and spent time in a carpentry workshop behind his family home, where his father worked as a building contractor.
His training sits across several places and disciplines. In 1968 he attended the Art Academy in Enschede, exploring design through mixed materials. He moved to England in 1972 and studied at Brighton Art College, while also developing an interest in antique repair. By 1976 he had settled in England’s West Country, and in 1978 he travelled to South India to study the art of inlay with L. Nagaraj, described as a National Award winner and master craftsman.
Van den Bosch’s work treats wood like a palette rather than a surface. Intarsia, as he describes it, relies on carefully selected, precisely shaped pieces of thicker wood assembled more like a jigsaw than a veneer picture. He distinguishes it from marquetry, which typically uses thinner veneers cut with a knife, while intarsia uses thicker material cut by saw and fitted piece by piece. Woods around 3 mm thick can be set into a solid base or overlaid onto a flat surface, and contrast backgrounds such as rosewood help the imagery stand out.
What makes the results feel unusually “alive” is the way the imagery comes from timber itself. The colours are not painted on – the natural colour and grain of each species carries the tones, and fine engraving can be used to sharpen detail and bring out lines. The approach gives his designs a tactile depth that reads differently from flat veneer work, especially when light catches varied grain directions across neighbouring pieces.
Although the technique has deep roots, his output is meant for real rooms, not museum plinths. His collection includes inlaid coffee tables, mirrors, and tableware such as coasters and mats, presented as functional objects built for long-term use. Listings for events and galleries describe the same range – coffee tables, table mats, and mirrors – with an emphasis on the woods’ natural colours. He is also included among makers represented by the long-running Dansel Gallery in Abbotsbury, Dorset, placing his work within a wider UK craft market ecosystem.
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