Ornamentation of the Mundane: Queen of Hearts, 1991

Eastern repoussé cosmetic box with 4 compartments

The box is designed to mimic an unevenly stacked deck of playing cards. It is a double box with powder and cosmetic compartments in the top half.

I bezel set the garnet cabochons and faceted, synthetic rubies. I set the sapphire eyes by chasing the repoussé eyelids around the stones. The figure of the queen was electroplated with 24 karat gold. The protruding card edges are soldered sterling sheet, and I engraved parallel lines on the sides of the box to suggest the rest of the deck.

This was my first completed piece of Eastern repoussé after I learned the technique.