Ann’s Chair

This chair was never going to be subtle.

She came from the estate of my mother's best friend's aunt — a woman I was rather fond of, who chain-smoked while she chain-read books, adored opera, and worried, constantly without ceasing about absolutely everything.

I was taken with the Louis XIV frame at once. The work ahead was another matter. She arrived in quite a state — yellow velveteen, straight out of the 1960s, plus the marks of a noble reupholstery attempt that left her flattened and a little melancholy. We had our work cut out for us.

Now she wears midnight blue velvet. The reproduction wood frame, hand-painted gold, carries itself with all the confidence of the real thing. She is, rather improbably, shockingly comfortable — which tracks, given she was meant for chain-reading in the first place. Hardly anyone smokes anymore, but she'd still make excellent company for it.

Style: Louis XIV reproduction frame, wood, hand-painted gold
Upholstery: Midnight blue velvet, fully reupholstered
Condition: Restored to fabulous