Chair with beast's head
Date:
1130s to ca. 1250
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Sweden
Medium:
Wood
Dimensions:
117 × 80 cm
Description:
This carved wooden chair may be the oldest furniture to survive from Sweden. It was originally in the church at Suntak, but it was hidden in a granary before being rediscovered in the nineteenth century. Dendrochronological analysis indicates that the wood used for the chair is probably contemporary with one of the original beams in the stone church. That wood was felled in the 1130s, and the chair may have been assembled then. About a century later it was refashioned using new wood dated ca. 1238–50.
The beast's head was sculpted from a single block of wood. Traces of polychromy survive (white, black, red, yellow, gray), as well as a runic inscription, perhaps of the later thirteenth century, that says "ave maria grasia" (Hail, Mary, full of grace—the angel Gabriel's words to Mary at the Annunciation). This type of impressive, decorated chair was doubtless reserved for a bishop; the congregation mostly stood during church services, although some churches had benches.
The beast's head was sculpted from a single block of wood. Traces of polychromy survive (white, black, red, yellow, gray), as well as a runic inscription, perhaps of the later thirteenth century, that says "ave maria grasia" (Hail, Mary, full of grace—the angel Gabriel's words to Mary at the Annunciation). This type of impressive, decorated chair was doubtless reserved for a bishop; the congregation mostly stood during church services, although some churches had benches.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
6,
7,
8
Repository and Online Resources:
The chair is now in the Västergötlands museum.
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons; Flickr
