Making a Throne

I wanted to photograph Lawrence's coronation, but needed a real throne.  In the past I'd used the fancy chair with the green velvet upholstery, but I wanted Lawrence to have something more appropriate.  So I looked up some images of Medieval thrones that I liked.....

I asked Jan if he could make me a throne something like that, and he was a bit reluctant at first, knowing the details of the throne on the left would be pretty much impossible. But he was willing to try. So he drew up some plans and started by cutting the corner posts out of 3/4 x 3/4" pine, and cutting channels in them for the 1/4" thick panels....

 The whole basic seat would be put together using only glue, so needed to be clamped together and weighted at every stage....until it dried.....

The basic throne, ready for embellishment.....

We had gone to Michaels for a 1/8" thick birch paneling for the decorative panels in the back of the seat, and to Home Depot for some fine mouldings to mimic the fine carvings.

I drew the back panel designs on the birch, and Jan cut out them out and glued them in place, along with 1/8" and 1/4" thick strips to create the look of the panelled sections.

​My two 'Little Workers' were standing on the kitchen table while he was pondering how to attach the trims I'd chosen for the top, and I just had to take a photo.....

The finished throne with all the trims in place....

Jan stained the throne, and I added shading to highlight the trims, and make it look more realistic. And I sewed a cushion seat...

I took the first photos of Lawrence on his new throne....

While the throne was under construction, I had made the coronation robes, orb and sceptre, and had embellished an existing crown.....

Then it was finally time to tackle Lawrence's coronation. I had been struggling with how to do it for weeks already. I wanted a suitably regal interior, and had been eyeing the bottom of the dining room china cabinet, which I'd used once before.  But I needed wide shots and from several different angles, and couldn't figure out how to possibly do that. Plus it would be way too difficult to try shooting it all down on the floor. So, after weeks of trying to figure out how to create a suitable interior, I finally decided to just 'go with the flow' and see what I could put together on top of the dining room table. 

I figured if I couldn't use the bottom, I'd use the top. The table was pushed width-wise right up against the china cabinet. I needed the table width-wise so the space would be wide enough to accommodate guests on both sides without interfering with what was happening in the middle.

The cabinet door frames would make nice architectural details, but the glass was too shiny. So I cut two panels out of bristol board and painted them with 'stonework', then taped them over the glass.   My two bi-fold 'stone' foam core walls were way too warped to use for this setting, so I used the 'cottage' interior walls instead. I figured they'd be mostly hidden by tapestries anyways. The dias and steps were made by layering some old wooden shelving. And my trusty fireplace served as architectural backing for the throne.

​I added decorations and seating, and the guests started arriving.....seven fun size dolls, three JIDs, and three MSDs....

I took a few photos and decided the tops of the wallhangings were all too low, so raised them all.
I was finally ready for the ceremony to begin....