Manchu Scene

I finally rediscovered my singular Dowager Empress figure after a long search. This was a piece that I had completed more than ten years ago, than decided to remake it a few years ago and had then placed it aside in pursuit of other projects.

After studying this piece, I have come to the conclusion that the pose is uninteresting. Her right hand holding the dog leaning further out to the right is unbalanced and the left hand is not doing anything. I have decided to alter the pose to make the Dowager interact more with her dog. I intend to have her left hand hold the dog with her right hand patting the dog. This will be the anchor piece for the proposed Manchu scene.

The other key figure which I had also discovered separately (!) was this servile Manchu figure carrying another dog on a pillow. So with a bit of work, this piece will add to the scene.

The Dowager Empress was photographed generally surrounded by many women courtiers and servants. I located several failed metal torso castings and resin boots castings and decided to create some generic standing figures.

The picture shows the first stage of this project.