THREE ORKNEY CHAIRS

Straw backed chairs from Orkney are one of the most distinctive forms of British Regional chair. They originate on islands where home grown wood is scarce, and where the inhabitants turned to other natural materials to supply many of their needs. Paramount amongst these was the straw produced from the native black oats, which, when hand threshed, and cleaned (and called gloy at this stage) was able to be used in the manufacture of many kinds of domestic items.