King of Portugal's acoustic chair has spent 60 years in shop window
A UNIQUE throne which has graced in the window of a Bold Street shop for 60 years is looking for a regal new home.
The ornate chair, which is an exact replica of one made for the King of Portugal in the early 1800s, doubles up as a hearing aid.
Since the 1950s, it has taken resplendent pride of place in what is now the Amplifon hearing centre, observed by generations of curious shoppers on the former “Bond Street of the North”.
But with the march of street-food restaurants reaching pounding level on Bold Street, Amplfon is making the move to Church Street - and is planning to lose the chair.
Why the throne isn’t going to the new hearing aid store isn’t clear. Perhaps the noise generated by electrically amplified buskers on Church Street is a noise too far for a delicate hearing instrument such as this. After all, it is an acoustic chair.
So staff are seeking someone who can offer a home to what they call a “unique piece of audiology memorabilia” and are hoping their appeal won’t fall on deaf ears.
Stephen Taylor, District Manager for Amplifon said: “The acoustic throne has become something of a Liverpool legend over the years – it really is quite an unusual piece.
“It was kept in the shop window for many years and lots of our customers have memories of seeing it when they were shopping on Bold Street as children. One lady told us her grandparents had their first kiss in front of it!”
“Unfortunately we’re not able to take it with us when we relocate to Church Street and we hope someone – possibly a local museum – will come forward to claim the throne.”
With the gaping open mouths of twin lions on either arm, the exact origins of the chair are unknown, but it’s believed to be a copy of a hearing aid device created in the early 19th century for King John VI of the short-lived United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve.
The king commissioned London craftsman Frederick Rein, who specialised in hearing devices, to make the acoustic chair.
Rein designed the chair to reflect the king’s royal status; the lions’ heads on the arms are hollow and carry sound up to a tube which would be fitted to the king’s ear to enable him to hear his subjects speak as they knelt before him.
It’s thought the "Bold Street Throne", was part of a collection of historical hearing aid memorabilia put together by the shop’s former owner. The chair was passed on when Amplifon took over the branch in 2006.
It's not the first time they've tried to get rid of it.
Mr Taylor added: “We did try to move the chair out of the window a few years ago, but so many people came in to ask where it was we had to put it back.
“Now we really hope someone who values the chair as a real slice of Liverpool life will display it so it can continue to be enjoyed - and marvelled at – by visitors to the city.”
If you’d like to offer a home to the Bold Street throne, contact the store on 0151 556 4591.
