Glastonbury chair
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1850 - 1899
Materials
Oak
Measurements
88 x 71 x 51 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Erddig, Wrexham
NT 1147054
Summary
An oak 'Glastonbury' chair, Welsh or English, last half of the 19th century. The panelled back carved with a chip-carved roundel, beneath a toprail carved with Gothic script. The same script to the downswept, open arms and with a panelled seat. Raised on a pair of 'X'-form supports joined by an octagonal-section stretcher. Fixed together with pegs. -- The generic name 'Glastonbury Chair' is believed to originate from a chair reputedly made for John Arthur Thorne, the last Treasurer of Glastonbury Abbey who was executed in 1539, the year the abbey was dissolved. A carved Latin inscription on the cresting rails of his chair reads: John Arthur, Monk of Glastonbury, may God save him, Praise be to God, Lord give Peace. The inscription suggests that the chair was most likely made in Thorne's memory, post 1539. The chair is now in the Bishop's Palace, Wells, Somerset. It was much copied in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Provenance
Given by Philip Yorke III (1905-1978) along with the estate, house and contents to the National Trust in 1973.