Pictish throne

Thrones are very important objects representing the authority of rulers and religious leaders. No Early Historic Scottish thrones survive but we have pictures of people sitting on them preserved on sculptured stones. We used one of these carved stones from Fowlis Wester in Perthshire as the inspiration for our design. Carved stones like this provide the earliest evidence for their use in Scotland.

In recreating a Pictish throne we had two aims: first to bring to life a type of object which has not survived, and second to gain insights into the processes of wood carving from working with a craftsperson.

Adrian McCurdy, an experienced furniture maker based near Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders, was chosen to make the throne. On the Fowlis Wester stone the thrones are only seen from the side. This meant that we had a limited amount of information about the design of the throne. Adrian’s skills as a furniture maker allowed him to interpret this limited information to produce a three-dimensional design. The process of working with a craftsperson provided many insights and added to our understanding of this important type of object in often unexpected ways.

The throne has been on temporary display venues including the Scottish Parliament, the Tarbat Discovery Centre, and Glenmorangie’s distillery visitor centre.

Click on the thumbnails below to see the pictures in more detail and to find out more about how the throne was made.