Glastonbury chair
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1880
Materials
Oak
Measurements
90 x 48 x 40 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Knightshayes Court, Devon
NT 540749.3
Summary
One of a group of three oak 'Glastonbury' chairs, English, circa 1880. Comprising a pair with parquetry back panels and one with incised line decoration to the back panel and toprail, the pair with reeded edges to the arms and legs, each of typical form with shaped arms and X-frame supports joined by a cross-stretcher. The generic name 'Glastonbury Chair' is believed to originate from a chair reputedly made for John Arthur Thorne, the last Treasurer of Glaston(bury) Abbey who was executed in 1539, the year the abbey was dissolved. That chair is now in the Bishop's Palace, Wells, Somerset. It was much copied in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Provenance
Purchased by the National Trust in 1989.