Mysterious history of chair rescued from the sea
● Heraldic carving dates piece to after Union of the Crowns in 1603
It is at least 300 years old, has a carving of a unicorn on the back and seems to have spent many years immersed in the sea. This mysterious chair, which dates from the 17th or 18th century, sits in the store at Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore after being gifted to the collection by an Edinburgh man several decades ago.
Now, after the keen eye of a furniture expert spotted the piece, an investigation is under way to establish more about its origins, why it ended up in the water – and how it made it way back on to dry land again.
Research is being undertaken by the Regional Furniture Society, which studies furniture traditions across Great Britain and Ireland, after members travelled to the Highlands and confirmed the wear to the chair had been caused by the sea.
Crissie White, a member of the RFS from the Glasgow area, said it was a “real mystery” how the chair, which is made from a type of pine, ended up in the water.
She said: “It is amazing the ‘seaworn’ chair survived in water long enough to erode all the surfaces of the pine so that they are grooved.
“The construction is strong and the immersion in water would swell the timber to keep the joints intact.”
Ms White added that if the chair had fallen from a shipwreck, it is unlikely it would have survived in the way it has.
One theory being considered by the RFS was that the chair had been thrown in the water at Tantallon Castle near North Berwick after it was sacked by Oliver Cromwell’s forces in 1651. A crowned heart on the panel back of the chair may link the item to Clan Douglas, who built Tantallon in the 14th century.
It may explain why the chair eventually ended up in the Edinburgh area – but there is also some suggestion the piece came from further north.
The Court of the Lord Lyon, the heraldic authority for Scotland, has dated the chair to after the 1603 Union of the Crowns, given that the panel back features a unicorn, the original heraldic symbol for Scotland, and the remnants of a lion.
Although very hard to see, the animals are holding two pennants in the centre with it confirmed by experts that these were an exclusively Scottish element. “The chair may have been made for a family to indicate loyalty to the Crown,” Ms White added.
Rachel Chisholm, curator at Highland Folk Museum, said: “It has been in our collection, probably for over 30 years and but we haven’t had room to display it. We are very intrigued as to why it was immersed in water for so long.”