Thor’s Mountain Thrones, Part 1- Bidding and Design

On May 21st, 2018, I received an email from the Baron and Baroness of Thor’s Mountain. They were seeking bids for a set of “Viking/Norse-style Thrones.” It was an honor to be asked to bid. The deadlines were very tight, with bids due by June 4th and the thrones themselves due by the end of September. I had to get busy quickly.
  They had provided a few examples of Thrones as inspirations for our designs:

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  They had also specified elements from their device and Norse culture.

  All three of the examples share the same general shape, so that part was easy to design. All three of them also featured pierce work. So, the first part I designed was the back.  I like to use Sketchup 2017 if you’re interested. I highly recommend it. I wanted the mountains from their device on the back. So this is what I came up with:

  The bid had also requested the presence of the Baronial motto, “The Mountain Stands Victorious.” That’s what the runes at the top of the back are. The light colored horizontal bar in the middle is the rear seat support.
I wanted to echo the back on the front. I also wanted to echo the curve. Now, the image of the griffin represents a carved item which will be added later. But they don’t exactly blend in in this image.

  For the sides, I decided to offer a choice of four different decorative motifs. The curve on the bottom was again a copy of the top curve of the back. The top curve on the sides had to be a different curve in order to match the feel of the original sample designs. 

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  The thrones would break down like most of the Meridian thrones, using bed rail hardware. Two sets on the back, and one set on the front. 
  I was awarded the bid. The initial feed back was that the predominance of pierce work was not universally loved.  After some consultations some decisions were made. The mountain motif would be used on the side panel as well. In addition, each of the walnut panels would be backed with a solid ash panel to match the frames.
  And so the final design was:

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Next time, we start on the construction.

Next: Construction begins on the backs.