The LOVE Settle

The Love Settle
 
AS SEEN AT ANNE HATHAWAYS COTTAGE SHAKESPEARE HOUSE, Stratford Upon Avon.
 
This piece is FOR SALE and its Price is Upon Request.
 
 
Please email Lee Lapthore info@leelapthorne.com
 
2 Seat "Captain Seat" Mahogany Victorian Style Garden Lounger with windows (Portholes)
The Captain Seat is handcrafted in solid mahogany, hand woven in weatherproof polyethylene wicker, upholstered in marine fabrics and accented with adjustable handles and rails in stainless steel.
Dimensions for "Captain Seat": +/- H: 175 cm - B: 146 cm - D: 95 cm - Weight: about 115kg
 
The Love Settle is made from original textiles produced by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s artist in residence Lee Lapthorne 2019.
 
The work is based upon tattoos collected by the sailors of William Shakespeare’s day as souvenirs of the places they visited and is also inspired by symbols and images that would have been familiar to Shakespeare.  Many of these were found in the books and maps held in the Trust’s library and archive collections.  This included The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes, by John Gerarde, which was printed in 1597.
 
Love angels and spirits can be seen throughout the piece and these are taken from wood carvings in Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.  The quotes are inspired by references to love in Shakespeare’s plays to which Lee has added a modern form of communicating feelings of love in the form of text message abbreviations, including:
 
LOLV = Lots of love
LY4E = Love you forever
LUWAMH = Love you with all my heart.
 
Some of Shakespeare’s most well-known characters are embedded into the settle and are inspired by illustrations or images of actors in performance.  The characters depicted are (clockwise from top left):
 
Hamlet with skullcap
Ariel
Hamlet
Macbeth (Laurence Olivier)
Mercutio (John Gielgud)
Henry VIII (Charles Laughton)
Macbeth (George Skillan)
Queen Margaret (Dorothy Green)
 
Lee Lapthorne has also created another piece called The Bard’s Rest, which is on display at Hall’s Croft.