Maker unknown :Chair belonging to Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull, made from the teak timbers of the Barque Inconstant. Made ca 1910?

Carved teak framework, padded leather covering on seat and padded and buttoned on back, brass castors. A brass plate on the back states: "The teak from which this chair was made was part of the decking of the Barque 'Inconstant', stranded on a point afterwards Point Inconstant near Pencarrow Head on 18th August 1850. The barque was afterwards beached at the then foreshore and used by Mr John Plimmer as a storehouse, known as Plimmer's Noah's Ark. Here it remained until its partial removal was necessary for the building of the Bank of New Zealand [corner Lambton Quay and Customhouse Quay] in 1899. On the sale of the late Mr Turnbull's effects [1918-1920?] the chair was bought by a number of his friends and presented to the Alexander Turnbull Library."

Three such chairs were made from the timbers of the Inconstant. One went to the Bank of New Zealand head office and is still (1997) in their boardroom. One went to the Department of Education and was passed ca 1990 to the Museum of New Zealand / Te Papa; the third was Alexander Turnbull's.

The Inconstant was wrecked in 1849, not 1850

Quantity: 1 curio(s).

Physical Description: Teak, leather, brass, 160 x 700 x 670 mm

Provenance: Made for Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull, 1899 or 1900. Further information about the chair's provenance is in closed Library correspondence files in the Manuscripts and Archives Section, amongst the letters of J. C. Anderson, Chief Librarian, ca 1921.