Adaptive re-use / Automata
Adaptive re-use / Automata
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The pieces on this page are, by and large, experiments in applying marquetry to existing objects, often antiques, that are retrofitted with new mechanisms or electronics to make them more usable.
Cuckoo Clock
I got a cuckoo clock mechanism from Amazon, and placed it in a wooden frame. The front marquetry is based on a late 19th-century William Morris design. It cuckoo's every hour and a little wooden bird comes out from the doors at the top, while the tail tags back and forth.
9” by 12” by 4" deep--- Maple, sapele, mahogany, wenge, cherry, walnut, birch, lacewood , and paulownia in a maple and oak frame. 2024
1953 RCA Victrola
A 1953 RCA Victrola, restored with digital turntable. Inlay is of piano keyboard and piano player. Donated to Unison Preservation Society annual auction.
15” by 19” by 11" tall --- Maple, wenge, cherry, walnut, birch, anegre, and bloodwood on mahogany base. 2023
Banjo Speakers
Bluetooth speakers in Butterworth ported enclosures. They sound pretty good for their size. Design is inspired by 1950s Hungarian painter Bela de Kristo.
5.5" by 5.5” by 7" — walnut, bamboo, ash, bubinga, sapele, and wenge. 2024
Matisse leaf table
Matisse leaf table
Towards the end of his life, French painter Henri Matisse created a series of abstract flowers cut from large sheets of colored paper. I found this table at an antique store in Purcellville.
24” by 28” --- Walnut and mahogany on table. 2023
Muybridge table
Muybridge table
In 1878 Leland Stanford made a bet that all four legs of a horse were airborne while galloping. He hired Edward Muybridge to prove it by shooting a sequence using 12 cameras.
20” by 20” --- Padauk, lacewood, and walnut on mangowood table. 2022
Acanthus Sink
Basin cut from white oak using CNC, with William Morris design on front panel.
18” by 18” x 16" — Sapele, birch, maple, padauk, wenge, mahogany, walnut, makope, and anegre. 2024
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