Headboard

This king-sized headboard was a commission based on a small marquetry picture that the customer had previously bought from me. The project was challenging due to the sheer scale of the panels and the complexity of the frame.

The bed frame is 8/4 walnut. The panels are ½” plywood veneered on both faces. The marquetry panels are dogwood flowers and branches based on the tree in my yard. The dogwood flowers are made from dyed green and sand-shaded curly quartersawn English maple ( ripple sycamore, in English terms) in a birdseye maple field, with quartersawn walnut for the branches.

Joinery is dominoes, four to most joints, and the finish is shellac. The joinery angles were cut based on a full-sized template. Glue up was a treat, because the whole piece had to be assembled at once. Old Brown Glue made the task marginally less stressful because of the very long open time.