Creating a "Mock Empress Throne" for the Virginia Museum!!!

I was commissioned recently by the VMFA 

(Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

to create a mock "empress' throne" 

as an interactive tie-in to the current Forbidden City exhibit.

How does one go about making an empress's throne?

I had no idea, 

but I immediately said YES,
certainly I can do that!

 Step one was doing a little photo research:

And step two,
hitting my handy-dandy chocked-full-of-stuff garage,

where I found these items:

An old tattered upholstered empire bench...

Some ornate drapery finials.

And old oak mirror frame.

Some curvy mirror harps…(I think…)

 

So I made up a little sketch to present to the VMFA folks…

and showed them photos of the elements I had available.

We decided the bench might be too narrow, 

but otherwise, they liked my direction.

 So here I go,
my first empress couch!
For the base I ended up using this heavy,
and very sturdy coffee table.
(I don't want this thing to tip over!)

A trip to a discount house goods store yielded these decorative
wooden hook racks, and a mustard yellow velour throw.

Playtime begins…
experimenting on how to put all these elements
together….I removed the hooks and used those
decorative pieces for the legs.

I found this decorative molding on a broken mirror in the trash. Perfect!
Oh yeah, I see it coming together…

I jigsawed the sides of the plywood to follow the curved pieces.

 More play…with textiles...

 Once I figured out my design, 

I started painting. I used
blacks, deep grays, and some red.

Same for the other pieces...

 And the coffee table...

 I decoupaged a cutout of a dragon on the bottom shelf.

To "plush up" the back, I adding a layering of batting,

and then this chinese red fabric from a skirt I purchased

at a thrift store.

Then I screwed the decorative molding into

the batting, to give it more dimension.

 I added some decorative trim that matches the cushion fabric.

After painting all the pieces and putting them together,

I stained everything with a deep jacobean stain.

This simulates a lacquered finish.

Coming together!!!

And from a discarded chinese lantern, 

I pulled off these little dragons with tassels.

I attached them to either side of the top.

And finally the finials need to be added, and painted/stained.

One last added purchase:

This bright red decorative dragon.

  I screwed it into the bottom shelf

just behind the decoupaged element.

And here it is:

The throne of thrones….

(Sorry for the crappy photos…such a bummer

I never got better ones of the finished piece together!!)

Word is, 

the throne is still on display at

Fat Dragon Restaurant on Boulevard.

(Thanks for posing, Lillian!)

Suddenly I have a craving for some crispy egg rolls..