Seat of magic: why this innocuous-looking chair used by JK Rowling sold for almost Dh1.5 million

Sold by Heritage Auctions, this was the chair used by J K Rowling while she was writing the first two Harry Potter books. Here's what makes it so spellbinding.

JK Rowling used the chair to write the first two Harry Potter books. Courtesy Heritage Auctions

Sold by Heritage Auctions to an anonymous bidder in April, this was the chair used by J K Rowling while she was writing the first two Harry Potter books. Painted on the chair are the words: “I wrote Harry Potter while sitting on this chair”.

Presented as one of the most important pieces of Harry Potter memorabilia in existence, the chair comes from a set that Rowling was given for her government-housing flat when she was a young single mother living in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In 2002, a few years after publishing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rowling donated the chair to an auction called Chair-ish a Child, in aid of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Rather than selling it in its original form, Rowling used gold, rose and green paint to transform the chair into a piece of literary memorabilia. On the stiles and splats, in gold and rose, she wrote: “You may not / find me pretty / but don’t judge / on what you see”. She also signed the backrest and painted the word “Gryffindor” on the cross stretcher under the seat.

The chair sold for US$21,000 (Dh77,000) in 2002 and was resold in 2009 for $29,000. “I was quite surprised [J K Rowling] would sell the chair; she originally sold it for a children’s charity,” said former owner Gerald Gray. “Following in the tradition that she started with this chair, I plan to donate 10 per cent of the hammer price achieved to Lumos, Rowlings’s children’s’ charity.”

Accompanying the chair is the original “Owl Post” that Rowling wrote for the winner of the Chair-ish a Child auction. It reads: “Dear new-owner-of-my-chair / I was given four mismatched dining room chairs in 1995 and this was the comfiest one, which is why it / ended up stationed permanently in front of my typewriter, supporting me while I typed out ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ and ‘Harry / Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’. / My nostalgic side is quite sad to see it go, but my back isn’t. / J.K. Rowling.”

For more information, visit Heritage Auctions.

Read this and more stories in Luxury magazine, out with The National on Thursday, May 12.