CURIOSITIES:WE TOOK an immediate shine to these early 19th-century "scholar chairs" made of elm, which are said to come from the Shanxi region west of the Taihang mountains in China, writes Patsey Murphy
First of all, we admired their Shaker-like, elegant simplicity. Then we liked the idea of having a scholar in the house to present them to - although on recent evidence, this cannot be said to the case, alas.
We found the chairs tucked away in the back room of Watsham & Bohn, a lighting and interiors shop in Monkstown, Co Dublin, crammed with a number of unexpected, covetable items, including old-fashioned camera flash lights on three-legged wooden stands of varying heights.
Laragh Bohn and her partner travel to Hong Kong two or three times a year to source a small complement of antiques to set off the fabrics and furnishings that are their stock in trade. They design mirrors, consoles, cabinets and sidetables themselves using different paint finishes and lacquer work. It's a shop with a good few surprises amid the more traditional accessories, jardinieres, picture frames, candlesticks and whatnot. Just now they have a host of ancient Buddhas looking rather forlorn on the shelf and in need of a shrine.
There are two of the elder scholar chairs and two child-sized ones in stock. The former pair costs €2,450. Watsham & Bohn, 93a Monkstown Road (01-2140741).