David Linley, the son of Lord Snowdon and the late Princess Margaret, is a furniture designer and cabinetmaker of international renown. He established Linley, a bespoke furniture and interior design firm and opened his first shop in London on the New Kings Road in 1985. Today the company is based in Belgravia with additional stores in the Burlington Arcade and in Harrods. The company is especially well known for handcrafted furniture and architectural miniatures, often in the neo-classical style in the manner of Sir John Soane.

In 2005 Artifex London was invited to create a glass inlaid marble panel for a bespoke commission – the lid of a humidor, (a decorative box designed to keep cigars fresh). The Islamic model is exquisitely crafted in maple with laser-cut detailing and marquetry inlay in sycamore, burr walnut, cherry and ebonized walnut. The box has an inbuilt humidifier and hygrometer and compartments for storing smoking accessories.

The translucent panel for the lid was manufactured in Italy in Crema di Luna marble and infused with white glass to a design by Artifex London. It is a unique feature that contrasts subtly with the rest of the piece and is the only one of its kind in the world.