Chambersburg native builds chair for Queen Elizabeth II

(Yorkshire, England) — A Chambersburg native has built a connection with the Queen of England, by making a chair that she will sit on at a special Easter ceremony Thursday.

John Gabler, with his company Dovetailors Bespoke Furniture and Interiors in Leeds, made the chair Queen Elizabeth II will use at the Maundy Thursday service at Sheffield Cathedral. He also made a chair for her husband, Prince Philip, and another dignitary.

The queen’s chair is nothing like a throne, like some people might think, Gabler said. Rather, it and the other two are simple and straight designs that fit in with the aesthetics of the Sheffield Cathedral. The queen’s chair, however, has a higher back than the other two.

Each of the chairs is made of English oak. It was a bit of a challenge to find the material because, according to Gabler, the resource was largely used up centuries ago when it was used to build ships. He acquired some though from a connection in south England.

Each chair also features stainless steel on the section holding up the arms. The steel is from Sheffield, which is well known for the material, Gabler said.

Gabler, a 1999 graduate of Chambersburg Area Senior High School, said his involvement with the project began in February when his company received commission for it.

“We had to do full detailed drawings of the chair, make a full size mock-up and deliver (it) to the cathedral for feedback and then alter the chair according to their feedback,” he said. “To make the three final chairs took about a month.”

But he and his colleagues did not know who the chairs were for at first, just that the clients were very insistent that they had to be done by Wednesday.

“Gobsmacked” is how Gabler described his reaction to finding out who they were for.

“You go from making three chairs to all of a sudden making a chair for the queen,” Gabler said. “I come from a small town in America, and all of a sudden I’m making a chair for the queen.”

Maundy Thursday is a Christian event marked each year on the Thursday before Easter. According to the official website of the British royal family, Maundy Thursday commemorates the day Jesus and the Apostles had the Last Supper.

Queen Elizabeth II has participated in all but four Maundy Thursday services since her coronation in 1952, the website states. As part of the ceremony, she will hand out special coins to one man and one woman for each year of her age — 88, this year.

Gabler will get to see his chairs put to use because he and his colleague were invited to the Maundy Thursday service. He doubts he will get to meet the queen, but is as excited to be in the same room as her.

“It’s an honor because I’m glad that they saw that someone who is simply making a chair was worth inviting,” he said.

Back when Gabler was living in Chambersburg, he never thought he would be a carpenter, let alone get the opportunity to make a chair for the queen.

After graduating from CASHS and trying college, Gabler took a job at a ranch in Colorado. Renovations happened to be going on there, and he ended up becoming involved with making log furniture and discovering it was what he wanted to do.

He soon met his wife, and they moved to her native England about 13 years ago. Within that time, Gabler went to Tasmania to study woodworking for two years, and upon his return got an apprenticeship and has been refining his craft ever since.

He went on to start Gabler Furniture, which recently became part of Dovetailors.

He recalled thinking when he was younger that he would spend his life in Chambersburg, and enjoy the first day of fishing season with his dad every year. But things certainly evolved past that, he said.

“I am thrilled and (honored) that my home town is interested in this. I still see myself as someone from Chambersburg and still refer to it as ‘back home’ even though it’s been a while since I lived there,” Gabler added in an email.

Amber South can be reached at 262-4771.

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This article comes to us through a partnership between Public Opinion Online and WITF.