The ultimate highlight of the State Apartment is the throne. An ensemble consisting of dais, audience chair and canopy of state. And strictly speaking, no throne at all. That’s because in Saxony, the throne was exclusively used during coronation ceremonies. Audience chairs, on the other hand, always came into play when the king held an audience.
So the magnificent audience chair was the focal point of the ensemble, easily recognisable by the crown surmounting the chair back. The vast canopy of state is remarkable. Its size was a demonstration of sovereign power. The furnishing textiles were of exceptional quality – take the velvet covers on the seat and chair back, which are trimmed with an ornamental gold border. Absolute luxury.
The audience chair presented the restorers with another major challenge. This most important piece of furniture in the entire State Apartment had visibly suffered over the centuries. The priceless velvet and the galloon trim had been removed, and the chair had been so thoroughly re-finished that the original gilding had essentially disappeared. Fortunately, the surviving galloon trim and the remaining velvet had been put into storage. A vestige of the original velvet cover remained on the audience chair’s upholstered seat. Once the weave had been analysed, experts were able to work out the precise structure of the velvet. That created a foundation, based on which the wall coverings and the throne ensemble could be reconstructed and re-manufactured.
This small textile remnant became the template for the reconstruction work in the Audience Chamber as a whole. In order to recreate the crimson silk velvet with the correct yarn and thread count, weavers in the French town of Tours actually set up a historical loom. The fabric was woven by hand on that loom, employing the same methods that would have been used three centuries ago. Of course, that kind of work takes time. Just to give you an idea: an experienced weaver can manage 30 centimetres of silk velvet a day – not quite twelve inches.
