Westminster Abbey‘s coronation chair is being restored by conservator Krista Blessley
The ancient chair King Charles will be crowned on has some brand-new ornamental embellishments.
This throne has witnessed the coronations of Henry VIII, Charles I, and Queen Victoria. It last saw use in 1953 for the late Queen.
Although having a 700-year history, it was notably covered in graffiti in the 18th and 19th centuries by students and tourists who wrote their initials or names.
One visitor carved ‘P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800’ on the seat. Slithers of wood were also cut off as souvenirs.
Krista Blessley, paintings conservator at Westminster Abbey, was tasked with the cleaning and preservation of the gliding.
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But she believes she has found a previously overlooked part of a figure during the work.
She said: ‘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 cannot tell at the moment but will do some further investigation.’
Estimated to have been made in around 1,300 for King Edward I, the throne was used to house the coronation stone.
Constructed from oak, decorated with coloured glass, and gilded with gold leaf, it is ‘a complex layered structure’.
Ms Blessley, who has been working on the chair for months ahead of the May 6 coronation, said it is ‘a real privilege’ to be conserving a historic object central to the life of the nation.
‘It is so important to our country’s history and in the history of the monarchy, and it is really unique as a conservator to work on something that is part of a working collection and still used for the original function it was made for,’ she said.
She has been meticulously preserving the flaking gilding and cleaning the chair’s surface using sponges and cotton swabs.
Ms Blessley added: ‘It has a very complex layered structure, which means it is very prone to the gilding on it flaking.
‘So a large part of what I have been doing is sticking that gilding down to make sure it is secure, and then I will surface clean it and that will improve the appearance a little bit.’