Craftsman style frame that holds ceramic tile

A while back my mother-in-law presented me with these tiles she purchased on a trip to Italy; she asked if I would make a frame for them, just something simple she said.

Well, I didn’t for quite some time.

Being a big fan of the craftsman style and wanting to try my hand at it I came up with this design – at least I think it is my design – it incorporates a cloud lift element from Green and Green – multiple radii, mortise and tenon joinery and half laps, I skipped the pegs on the mortise and tenons. The tiles are held in place with silicon adhesive – I think this is way more complex than she imagined but she likes it just the same. It is made of some nicely figured cherry and finished with a couple of coats of tung oils followed by a coat of blonde shellac followed by some semi-gloss wipe on poly.

Thanks for looking.