As preparation for the coronation ceremony of King Charles III on May 6, 2023 picks up pace, conservators at London's Westminster Abbey are busy carrying out restoration work of a 700-year-old chair for the King's ceremony, according to CNN.
Coronation is a religious ceremony during which a sovereign is crowned.
For centuries the chair, known as the Coronation Chair, has been the centerpiece of English coronations. Henry VIII, Charles I, Queen Victoria and the late Queen Elizabeth II are some of them to be coronated on this chair.
Preservation work is intended to clean the oak chair and stabilise layers of flaking gilding - tiny, intricate dots that create images and patterns.
The Westminster Abbey, which has hosted coronations of 39 monarchs since 1066, has described the chair as "one of the most precious and famous pieces of furniture in the world" and says it is in "remarkable condition" considering how old the chair is, the CNN reported.
According to a BBC report, the chair was made on the orders of King Edward I, who reigned from 1272 to 1307. Almost all coronations since then has seen this chair being used.
'Oldest Surviving Piece Of Furniture Still Used For Its Original Purpose'
Krista Blessley, the conservator who is working on the chair, told BBC that the chair has seen some damage over the years. According to the report, it was scarred with graffiti by tourists and schoolchildren in the 18th and 19th Century. Carvings into the chair include a line that reads: "P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800", the report said.
The 6.5-foot-high chair is believed to have been crafted in about 1300, according to a statement by the Westminster Abbey.
The chair was originally covered in gold leaf and was also decorated with colored glass, as well as patterns of birds, foliage and a king painted by Edward I's master painter.
Quoting Blessley, who is the abbey's paintings conservator, BBC reported that it's the oldest "surviving piece of furniture still used for its original purpose".
"It's a real privilege to work on the coronation chair," she was quoted as saying in an interview to PA, according to the CNN report.
"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", she added.
Despite its significance and the care taken to protect it from any damage, the chair has "suffered occasionally over its lifetime", according to the abbey.
There is graffiti on the back dating back from the 18th and 19th centuries, believed to be the work of local schoolboys and visitors. Additional damage includes a small corner knocked off by a bomb attack in 1914, reported CNN.
Despite its age, the chair will not be the oldest artifact involved in the ceremony of King Charles III in May, but the silver-gilt coronation spoon in which the holy oil will be poured to anoint the King dates back to the 12th century.