Curio

State Library of New South Wales
‘Shakespeare’s Wood’ chair

‘Shakespeare’s Wood’ chair

1800s

English oak with mulberry insertion
Bequest of Bertram Howell, 1961

Embedded in the top rail of this unusual three-legged chair is a slip of mulberry wood stamped with the words ‘Shakespeares wood.’ It is believed that this piece of wood is from a mulberry tree which Shakespeare planted in his garden at Stratford-upon-Avon.

The armchair is made from three upright posts, which support a flat, triangular seat made from a single plank housed within a triangular frame. Each post has numerous turnings which terminate in ball finials and feet. All are joined below the seat by turned cylindrical stretchers. Supporting the cylindrical top rail, either side of the back post, are six small slanted spindles with tapered turnings decorated with simple incised grooves forming a back rest, while the turned cylindrical arm rests run from each end of the top rail to below the ball finials of the front uprights. Each arm is supported by a large turned spindle fixed into the triangular seat frame. The design is based on the earlier Edward III style, popular in the 14th century.

The ends of the numerous spindles in the chair are inserted (tenoned) into round drilled holes in the main uprights and each other while the framing joints, including the slanted arm rests, are pegged to the front upright, the top rail, the back upright and the bottom rails.

An example of a very similar style of chair dating from the 1600s is held in the furniture collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (collection number W.32-1931).

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O79004/armchair-unknown/


In 1940 a mulberry tree directly descended from one growing in Shakespeare’s garden in Stratford-upon-Avon was planted in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, across the road from the Library.

Chairs such as this were typically found inside the door of English stately homes, for a gentleman to sit on while a servant removed his boots. The large knobs on the arms of the chair would have provided an excellent gripping point to steady the gentleman while tight-fitting boots were removed.