Painstaking work has begun to prepare an 'extremely fragile' 700-year-old oak chair for King Charles III's coronation.
The gold leaf-gilded chair - which has formed the centrepiece of the ceremony since the coronation of King Edward II in 1308 - is receiving a much-needed refurbishment before the big day at Westminster Abbey on May 6.
Skilled conservation work on the historic piece of furniture includes a delicate clean and stabilising layers of the gold finish which have flaked off over the centuries.
Krista Blessley, a paintings conservator for Westminster Abbey who had been leading the project for the past four months, has described it as "real privilege" to work on the Coronation Chair.
Commenting on the significance of the item, she said: “It’s so important to our country’s history and in the history of the monarchy, and it’s really unique as a conservator to work on something that’s part of a working collection and still used for the original function it was made for.”
Much of the chair is covered in graffiti from tourists and school pupils who visited the Abbey in the 18th and 19th centuries, with one entry reading: "P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800".
But other parts of the original design, including one part of the gilding showing elaborate birds and foliage, have survived both the rogue engravings and a suspected bomb attack from the suffragettes in 1914.
Krista now believes she has found another decorative aspect that has previously been overlooked, as she revealed: “I think they are previously undiscovered toes in the punch-work gilding on the back of the chair.
“So there are areas of drapery where you can tell there would have been a figure. It might be they are figures of kings or it might be a figure of a saint, because so much is lost we can’t really tell at the moment but I’ll do some further investigation.”
The chair was originally made on order of Edward I as a companion piece for the Stone of Destiny, which will also feature in the upcoming ceremony.
The back of it once featured a painted king, either Edward the Confessor or Edward I, with his feet resting on an ornately carved lion.
Charles III is expected to be crowned on the seat in May when he is officially named King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms.
He will follow other famous monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth II, Henry VIII and Queen Victoria, who were also crowned on the chair.
