HRH The Duchess of Cambridge has been given a gift for HRH Prince George - a specially designed, hand-made high chair from The Furniture Makers’ Company, the furnishing industry’s charity.
Five eminent furniture designers were tasked by the company to produce a chair fit for a prince and Sussex-based craftswoman Katie Walker won the competition. Chairman of the judges Hugh Garforth-Bles says: “All of the entries were of the highest quality, but Katie’s was the most modern and original design. The chair is much more intricate to make than it appears. It will be the perfect first chair for Prince George.”
Katie Walker commented: “I was thrilled to win this commission – it is wonderful to be chosen to represent my profession in creating a real piece of history. I was also delighted to be able to deliver the chair personally to Her Royal Highness.”
Katie was accompanied by Jonathan Hindle, the Master of The Furniture Maker’s Company, who says: “This chair is a great example of how the UK is leading the world in design excellence and proving how much our industry is benefitting from recent investment.”
The chair is made in rippled ash (Fraxinus Excelsior), originating from a tree felled in the Longleat Estate in 2001. Ash was chosen because it would be particularly white. The chair is finished with white tinted hard wax oil. The backrest curves around the body for comfort and this curve allows one front leg of the chair to flow seamlessly into the other. In order to achieve this, the front legs and the top rail of the backrest are steam bent. All other curved elements are laminated from ash veneer or birch plywood.
