Inlay / Paterae / Pretty Pictures

Now we get really crazy with decoration.

There are two types that I will use on this table.  At the top of each leg there will be a small oval or ellipse.   That’s four of these ellipses.  I struggled for a while deciding what I wanted this to be.  I found a really snazzy eagle I liked but my family has rejected it.  I’m trying to make this table similar to something that could have been found in Baltimore at the turn of the 19th Century, so that seems to narrow things a bit.  Based on the design one can identify the region of a table so I didn’t want something that’s associated with the Connecticut River Valley or Boston or Philly.  I’ve settled on a thistle design found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a Baltimore table.  Here’s my second stab (the first failed spectacularly):

Not perfect but I now understand the process to make these.  The real trick is that the veneer I have on hand is thinner than the ideal.  Everyone I’ve talked to say you need 1/32″ or thicker material.  I made these out of 1/42″ so it was a bit dicey and required a lot of reinforcement while cutting.  Not ideal but I learned some things.  Cutting from thicker material will be much easier.  I’ve ordered some thicker material and I’m waiting by the door for it to arrive.

When I do the real pieces I’ll try to remember to shoot a step by step of my process.