Queen guitar pick reliquary

Queen guitar pick reliquary.  4"x1.5". Nickel silver, silver solder, thread.  2007

back of guitar

the back opens on hinges

the pick (if I had one.... <sigh>) would sit inside--on the left in this photo

guitar stand/ throne

This piece was done for metals class.  The project was to make a reliquary.  I chose Queen, my all-time favorite band.  I decided the reliquary would house a guitar pick, though I do not actually own a Queen guitar pick (a girl can dream, right?).

I tried to incorporate a lot of different Queen-related elements into the piece.  The tablature ("tabs") around the edge of the guitar are the tabs for my favorite part in Bohemian Rhapsody.  The back is, obviously, Queen's symbol.  Inside, the crown is another of Queen's symbols.  I also wanted to include images of each member of Queen. For the three live band members, I decided to use the faces from the "Hot Space" album cover--purely for aesthetic reasons, not for any reason related to the music on that album.  Freddie, may he rest in peace, has a special place in the heart of the guitar.  (though, unfortunately I made a design error when deciding to drill holes in the front in order to peg the threads when stringing the guitar--you can see the thread and pegs sticking out of Freddie inside the guitar.  DAMN!)

This tiny guitar is not functional, though I toyed with the idea of trying to make it so.  There's only so much I could do with a piece this small, however, and the time limit I had.