A PITCH PINE FRAMED ORKNEY CHAIR, BY ROBERT H. TOWERS, KIRKWALL
LATE 20TH CENTURY
£460
Scottish Applied Arts & Wemyss
Auction: 12 August 2015 at 12:00 BST
Description
with woven straw cowled hood and curved back, above open arms and seagrass drop-in seat, raised above single drawer on square supports
Dimensions
63cm wide, 148cm high, approx. 40cm deep
Footnote
Literature: Cotton, Bernard D. 'Scottish Vernacular Furniture', London 2008, pp. 250-261
Note: Orkney chairs are thought to have been made on the islands since the 19th century and the majority have wooden frames although they were also made entirely of straw although few of these survive.
On the largely treeless northern isles straw became an important alternative material for the manufacture of furniture and other useful items.
The straw in Orkney chairs, known locally as 'gloy' needed to be unbroken so was dried in kilns after harvesting rather than being threshed. The skilled makers then formed the backs of the chairs by eye. The current chair was made with a cowled hood, designed to exclude draughts.