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Rushworths Furniture
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The Grand Order of Water Rats

Rushworths are proud to be associated with The Grand Order of Water Rats... a show business charity founded in 1889, which has included such notable members as Laurel & Hardy and Charlie Chaplin and every other big British star from stage, screen & radio. Each year they elect a 'King Rat' to preside over meetings and to be a figure-head for the following 12 months. When a King Rat dies the other members commission a special chair to be made which is personalised with their name and photograph embedded in the chair. Rushworths have been honoured to have been asked to make 4 of these chairs, 2 of them for Charlie Chester and Frankie Vaughn. Follow this link to see the Grand order of Water Rats website

The following series of photographs follows the birth of one of the chairs.

 

Using templates and photographs of past chairs, the timber is carefully selected, turned on a lathe, before finally being hand carved.
The chairs feature a water rat carved onto a flap in the back of the chair, which drops down to reveal a photograph of the particular past King Rat.
 
Underneath the flap is a rail, in the middle are the initials 'PKR' (Past King Rat) the name of the deceased on the left, followed by the year(s) in which he was a King Rat on the right.
The chair arms also have a water rat's head carved on the end.


This is a view of the chair in the polishing department, which is in the process of having patination rubbed into the carving, to give an 'old-look' to the chair. In the polishing room a total of 15 different processes take place before the completed item is finally finished.
 

 

The chair is finally upholstered in red hide.

This particular chair was for the much loved, and very well respected agent, Philip Hinden.. so respected, in fact he was the only 'non-performer' to be elected as a King Rat.