The Skull
The Skull
The Skull is an Everyday Tray featuring the phenomenal marquetry work of Elena Simonova (@woodsimka on Instagram). Elena painstakingly constructed this phenomenal skull centerpiece entirely from wafer-thin pieces of wood of different species, cut patiently with the most delicate of hand saws, and then individually shaded each piece burning it carefully in a skillet of hot sand. This technique of marquetry is rare to find today, and someone who can do it at this master level is even rarer. Radiating from the skull are slices of figured sapele, giving a halo-like appearance. To complement this amazing tray, I constructed a two sided sliding box, also constructed of figured sapele with hand cut dovetail sides out of curly maple and completed with drawer pulls made from actual carved bone. Finished in food safe shellac and/or wax.