Priest's Chair?

My friend purchased this from a theater where it was being used as a prop...it looks pretty special to me. Any idea's what it is? I was thinking Priests chair, but can't find another example anywhere.

 

I sincerely doubt a priest would sit in a chair with those demons and dragons on it.

 

LOL,...I looked at some church images under 'Leviathan' and 'Dragon'...they have even scarier things to see...

 

If you click on FULL Image , your pictures will appear here instead of small icons.

 

I'm guessing it's too florid to be a religious item. Interesting piece. Too bad it's got a broken top.

 

I'd like to make all the thumbnails larger, but don't really see how..thanks for the heads up though. Think I can do them one at a time this way.

 

I'm getting an Arts & Crafts vibe from this

 

you can upload up to ten pictures. When you are finished uploading, look at the top of the list and it gives you a couple of options. One is "Full Image." Click on that and they all appear in the post.

 

I missed that option, and I can't see how to go back..I'll know for next time to do that at the beginning.

 

Isnt this pyrography? I think it was a run of the mill clergy chair,till some mad genius got ahold of it. Its fascinating,and quite beautiful. You could have those missing pediments recreated,but the breaks dont bother me at all.

 

It is pyrography and about 1900, give or take.

 

Thanks a lot guys for all the info! I knew nothing about pyrography. Really neat artform, now I have something to further research.

Any idea what something like this retails for? I'd like to impart a value to it so my friend takes good care of it.

 

We'd call that a hall chair here.

 

I saw one similar online where they were calling it a "Pyrography Throne Chair"...seams a little overboard,...Hall chair makes a bit more sense, although I do like the whole 'Throne' idea...Kingdom of the Hall...lol

 

A priest's chair is not a religious item as such, but many religions have developed a love for the arts, sometimes very extravagant:

And if the style of a specific period includes depictions of mythical beasts, those will show up as well. Just like gargoyles etc. on churches:

 

Value is dependent on location and selling venue. Here in semi-rural Midwest US, you would be lucky to get $150.00 with that damage at retail. Probably less than half that at most small auctions I can see where in other places, this could be a $350.00 (or more) chair.

Without the damage, this could be worth a fair amount more. Someone with some reasonable woodworking skills and a pyrography iron could restore this. It would be tedious but not particularly hard.

 

Thanks for the info. I was thinking around $350 here in NJ with a possible $500 in NYC if a designer stumbles across it. Bottom line is my friend really likes it and finds the damage gives it character so it won't be repaired. Don't expect she'll ever sell it either, at least now that it has a bit of value I can prevent her from painting it to look like some cheap home design store item.

Thanks again for taking the time to post.