Fine Early 20th Century Reclining Armchair Made from the Timber of HMS Renown by Hughes Bolckow & Co c.1915

A fine early 20th Century reclining armchair made from the Timber of HMS Renown by Hughes Bolckow & Co. c.1915 Probably originally designed for use in a grand garden, this fine chair is made from reclaimed teak salvaged from HMS Renown, the vessel having been broken up at the Hughes Bolckow yard in Blyth, Northumberland, in 1914. The chair uses a ratcheted mechanism to allow adjustments to the position of the back and one of the arms of the chair is carved with the words ‘Ex-HMS Renown’ to record its provenance. On the reverse of the chair is an applied brass plaque which reads: ‘Made from the timber taken from H. M. S. Renown, the ship that took King George and Queen Mary when Prince and Princess of Wales to India to attend the Durbar’. The chair was undoubtedly made by Hughes Bolckow and Co. and probably retailed in their Mayfair showrooms at 10 Dover Street. An advert by the firm in Country Life, 6th of May 1916, advertises these premises and their ‘Old battleship-teakwood’ and their ‘illustrated art booklets free by post….They describe indoor and outdoor furniture and souvenirs made from the teakwood, copper, gunmetal and lead of H.M.S. Renown, Collingwood, barfleur, Southampton and Wellesely (late Boscawen)’. In The Queen, Saturday 16th of May 1914, an article mentions that: ‘Messrs Hughes Bolckow’s name is, of course, primarily associated with the battleship teakwood furniture, in which their designs are so thoroughly purposeful and artistic. Perfectly simple and of thoroughly sound workmanship, it is a fitting memento of the good ships from whose timber, when their breaking-up days came, the material was selected’. An article in Blyth News, 15th of January 1981, recorded the sale of the Hughes Bolckow firm and stated that: ‘The firm broke up many famous ships, including the battleship Renown. Furniture, from top-class wood taken from broken ships, was also manufactured on site’. Intriguingly, a blotter made from Renown timber by Hughes Bolckow (it matching the piece shown in the Country Life advert referenced above) is in the Canadian government collection at Reford Gardens in Quebec and may be seen online. HMS Renown A second class battleship, of the pre-dreadnought type, Renown was launched from the Pembroke Dockyard in 1895 and was intended to be the flagship of the foreign fleet, a role she performed with distinction in both the Mediterranean and North American fleets. Having served her purpose in this role, she was refitted in late 1902 in time to become a royal yacht and take the Prince and Princess of Wales, the future King George V and Queen Mary, on a tour to India, the voyage which is recorded on the brass plaque affixed to the piece. She returned to general service in August of 1903 before being placed in the reserve in 1904 and later as a subsidiary yacht, carrying the King and Queen of Spain on a trip to and from Britain in late 1907. Finally she was used as a stoker’s training ship at Portsmouth in 1909 and an accommodation ship from 1911. She was partially dismantled in 1913 and finally broken up in 1914 and the current piece is a fine testimonial to the quality of her timbers and her enduring historic appeal.