Wooden Scottish Armchair Belonging to Cardinal Beaton

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

52402

Title

Wooden Scottish armchair with paper label belonging to Cardinal Beaton

Description

One vernacular Scottish armchair. The armchair has a gently curved crest rail with a triangular indentation in the centre. There is a paper label in the centre of the chair splat that is hand written. The chair has two slender curved arms that terminate in rounded hand rests. The chair seat is made of three planks of wood. The chair is supported on four legs, two of which are turned and the rear two are block supports. The legs are joined by four plain stretchers.

Type

Wood

Accession number

HH859

Copyright

The City of Edinburgh Council Museums & Galleries

This chair is thought to have belonged to Cardinal David Beaton, the last Cardinal in Scotland prior to the Reformation. This was a difficult and dangerous time to be a senior Catholic figure, as the Protestant and Catholic churches struggled for power in Scotland. After a controversial life where he made many enemies and where his behaviour and actions were subject of many raised eyebrows, the Cardinal was brutally murdered by a group of aggrieved lairds in St Andrews in 1546. His final burial place is unknown.

The worn and faded paper label visible on the chair back – called the splat - tells us that the chair was salvaged from Cardinal Beaton’s palace on the Cowgate. At the time, this was one of the Edinburgh’s most prestigious areas with many luxurious properties. The Cardinal’s palace would have been a stately residence well known to residents of the city. We can only imagine what the reaction to his death would have been among the people in the city – horror, shock, or perhaps even relief?

Exhibitions with this item

Other views of this item

Related images

Read how our collections have inspired people taking part in events, visits and community groups. Use the slider or navigation arrows to see more responses.

Wooden Scottish armchair belonging to Cardinal Beaton