Ships Captains chair
Initial assessment
The condition of this chair is consistent with its working life as a captain’s chair on a boat. It is made from oak and supported by an iron base, which was originally bolted to the deck. The chair is a tub-style design that swivels 360 degrees via a mechanism located at the top of the iron base, to which the seat is attached.
It features a removable woven cane seat, which is further supported by an additional padded, upholstered leather seat beneath. The central back splat and the two vertical side supports are decorated with low-relief carvings, which are well executed.
The chair shows evidence of multiple old repairs. The shaped ends of the two vertical side supports have very short grain. The short grain combined with dowel joinery and oak’s natural tendency to split makes this area particularly vulnerable to damage. These components have been broken and re-glued several times (see fig. 2).
The chair appears to retain its original finish, which is now somewhat crazed and heavily soiled. The iron base, although filthy and covered in grease and grime, appears to be complete and undamaged.
fig 1 fig 2
Process, repairs and structural work
The timber chair was removed from the iron base, both pieces were treated separately. Most of the joinery in the timber chair was loose and coming apart. The chair was carefully disassembled and came completely apart, except for the round seat frames (see fig. 1). The main round seat frame and the two additional, loosely fitted upholstered frames remained intact. Given the brittleness of the old wood and the existing stability of the frames, the risk of disassembling them outweighed any potential benefit.
The damaged vertical supports had old, poorly executed repairs. Screws and nails were removed, and the splits were re-glued (see figs. 3–4).
fig 3 fig 4
As the split and cracked pieces were no longer a good fit, additional support was inset from the back. Old oak, carefully matched for colour and grain was inset across the damaged area, (see fig 5 & 6). The dowel joinery between the vertical supports and the arm rail combined with the short grain makes this area vulnerable to future damage. Timber inset from the back helps to structurally consolidate the joint, providing greater long-term stability.
fig 5 fig 6
One of the arms was missing a shaped block. A replacement one was made and fitted, (see fig 7 & 8).
fig 7 fig 8
The finish
The existing finish on the chair is somewhat crazed and very dirty; however, it appears to be the original polish. The surface was covered in a thick layer of grease, grime, and wax. It was decided to preserve the old polish, as it appeared to be mostly intact.
A cleaning process was required that would remove the built-up layers of grime without affecting the original finish. Warm soapy water followed by white spirits was used to gradually clean the surface, revealing a finish that, although crazed, remained largely intact (figs. 9 & 10). In some areas, the polish had worn through. A French polishing rubber with blond dewaxed shellac was used to rebuild these worn sections. Repairs incorporating new timber were colour-matched and blended into the existing finish. Other disruptive marks were also touched up and blended in. FFFF pumice powder and a French polishing rubber were was to repair and re-build the existing crazed finish. Finally, a protective coating of hard wax was applied.
fig 9 fig 10
Cast iron base
The base of this chair is made from cast iron and was specifically designed for use on a ship. A solid bronze bolt securely attaches the chair to the ship’s deck via a solid bronze female thread, which would have been set into the deck.
Initially, the base was thought to have a Japan black finish, typical of cast iron components. However, during the cleaning process, a gold-painted finish was revealed. The thick black coating of grease and grime was removed using white spirits. Once fully cleaned, the base was sealed with shellac and wax to prevent oxidisation (fig 11 &12)
fig 11 fig 12
All above work has been done in line with a conservation ethic, an emphasis on preservation rather than restoration. All work has been done in way that is at least in theory revisable. Collagen based hide glue has been used for repairs and de-waxed blond shellac for the finish. Both of these materials are excellent for conservation purposes, are stable over time but don’t chemically crosslink and can be softened and re-worked with the original solvent.
