International Steampunk Art Prize 2026

"The Empress" is a custom sewing cabinet built from a meticulous structural puzzle of 19th-century treasures. The core structure is a restored antique English oak coal scuttle mounted on heavy brass legs, extended laterally using custom hidden steel plates and masked with golden claws. The cabinet houses a operational 19th-century Guhl & Harbeck hand-crank sewing machine. Below, lower drawers salvaged from an old Pfaff frame hide custom mechanics: the left drawer features an antique wooden pedestal pincushion on a pivoting axis that automatically rises above the frame when opened, while the right drawer organizes vintage notions. Suspended below are two vintage wooden shoe lasts acting as darning eggs. The wood underwent intensive anti-woodworm treatment, bitumen patina, and a rigorous 2-month curing process with pure Tung oil (one coat per week). Reimagining history through functional, kinetic cabinetmaking without any commercial purpose.