The Amazing Story of Sarah's Arm Chair

Rumor has it, that this classic arm chair belonged to a respected Captain’s family in the Royal Navy. Sarah, the Captain’s wife was not content to stay in Oxford while her husband was away at war, instead she traveled extensively throughout Europe, Africa and the Far East collecting treasures for their beloved estate. Her strong will and spirit were no match for her husband’s objections and she was fortunate to have inherited her father’s ship building company providing the means for her adventures.

Morocco and Egypt fascinated her the most and on her second trip to Giza she met a British Archeologist and his wife, Neville and Helena Donoghue who were digging in The Valley of Kings. They became fast friends and invited her to join them the next day. The next morning, Sarah felt like a school girl as she prepared for the day’s journey.

Neville and Helena had quite a large company of local workers assisting them on their excavation. Sarah was fascinated with the planning and precision that was required for a project of this size but wasn’t prepared for the boredom. She soon found some cool shade in one of the excavation sites that had unearthed some caves that looked like a welcome diversion. She discovered there wasn’t much to see and started to head back to the entrance and stumbled on some loose stones which gave way to an underground chamber. Fortunately, she managed to escape falling in but she had hit her head on one of the rocks which was now bleeding. She braced herself against the wall to get up and saw an amulet that had been buried in the ceiling of the chamber below. Dazed, she placed the amulet in her pocket and limped out to announce her discovery.

Sarah slowly opened her eyes, surprised to see her husband, Charles, and realized she was in a hospital. What had happened? He explained that she had suffered a severe concussion from her fall and the Donoghue’s contacted him through the British Embassy. She could see the tears in his eyes as he explained that she had been in a coma for over four weeks. Sarah couldn’t believe it. Slowly the events of the excavation began to return but she had no memory of the amulet.

Once she was well enough to travel they returned to England. Grateful to be home again, Sarah was ready to settle in and catch up on their affairs. Just before dinner, she went to her dressing table and she stared at the amulet. She then remembered putting it in her pocket at the cave site, her housekeeper must have found it when unpacking her things. Sarah knew that Egyptian amulets were believed to possess magical properties that were often worn for protection and then taken to their tomb for use in the afterlife. This beautiful amulet crafted of gold and lapis depicted the sacred scarab symbolizing rebirth. She knew she should contact the Donoghue’s but couldn’t bear to part with it, somehow she felt like it had saved her life. To keep it safe she knew she would have to carefully hide it. The beautiful arm chair her mother had given her would be perfect. Underneath the seat was a small opening that the amulet would easily fit into. She carefully sewed it up and never mentioned it again to anyone, not even Charles.

Charles left the British Navy to take over Sarah’s Ship Building Enterprise where it prospered for many years. To satisfy Sarah’s adventurous spirit they moved to Boston, Massachusetts and explored America. They eventually passed away from old age and since they were childless, their fortune and belongings passed on to the state. Sarah’s Arm Chair was sold at auction for pennies of its original value; however, I believe, Sarah would have approved. The new owners were a struggling young couple who loved beautiful things and dreamed of traveling to faraway places. Within a year they developed a new invention which brought them enormous riches. They were able to fulfill their dreams of traveling around the world and collecting beautiful treasures. Many times they would sit in Sarah’s chair always grateful for how fate had blessed their lives.

And so the story goes that each new owner of Sarah’s Arm Chair has enjoyed great prosperity and fortune.

To honor Sarah’s memory and the good fortune of the amulet, I chose to restore her beautiful Arm Chair with a rich paprika finish accented in black. The coordinating zebra fabric celebrates Sarah’s love for adventure and the exotic!

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