Thank you for viewing. This item was purchased at an antique shop some time ago. I loved the magnificent design, but I am selling it to purchase something else I want. The shop owner said that real gold was used for the gold parts, but I couldn't bring myself to melt it down as I thought it would be a waste. ~What is Inlay?~ The process of carving patterns into metal, ceramics, ivory, wood, etc., and then inlaying gold, silver, or other materials. Also, the resulting inlaid object.