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It is incredible to think that this armchair sailed all the way to India and back on the HMS Medina, which had been commissioned as the Royal Yacht. Warings (Warings & Gillows) was commissioned by Queen Mary to furnish the royal quarters on board the yacht, and this chair was part of that. It has been professionally reupholstered in a very nice yellow ochre/mustard colour fabric, and is ready for a new home.
There is a great deal of fascinating information about HMS Medina to be found online, so I will summarise it only very briefly here. The Medina was built by Caird & Company of Greenock, and was the last of ten “M” class ships built for P&O. The decision to use it as the Royal Yacht for King George V and Queen Mary’s trip to the Delhi Durbar was made late in construction and as a result the vessel had to undergo some re-fitting and various rooms that had been designed for public use were redecorated as Royal apartments. On completion of its Royal voyage, the vessel was returned to Caird & Co for re-fitting back to its original purpose as a passenger liner for P&O, which would also carry general cargo and mail on routes between Britain, India and Australia. When WW1 broke out the ship continued with its service between London and Australia, but was armed. Sadly, on April 28th 1917 after leaving Plymouth for London on the last leg of a voyage from Australia, the ship was attacked by torpedo and sunk. Thankfully most of the passengers had disembarked at Plymouth and of the remaining crew and passengers there were six fatalities. At the time of its sinking the ship was carrying the personal possessions of The Viceroy of India, Lord Carmichael (which has made it a popular wreck for salvage operations) and also much valuable cargo at the time such as food stuffs, raw materials and manufactured goods, which were all in short supply at home during the war.
Condition: The chair has been re-covered by our upholsterer. There is some wear to the legs which is shown on the photos.
Dimensions:
Width - 76cm
Depth - 95cm
Height - 87cm
Seat height - approx. 38cm
Mainland UK delivery (excluding the Scottish highlands) is included in the price - if you would like a quote for delivery elsewhere, or if you would like to collect the item yourself, please get in touch. Delivery of furniture usually takes between 7 and 21 days from order, though can sometimes take longer. If you need an item by a certain date please speak to us prior to ordering and we’ll try to help. Please see our ‘How to Buy’ page for more information regarding delivery.
This is an antique item and as such may have signs of wear in accordance with its age. Anything that we think is of note will have been mentioned above, but please study the photos carefully to satisfy yourself as to its condition as it is not possible to list every little mark or flaw. We are happy to provide high resolution photographs or videos if required, and answer any questions you may have - just get in touch!
