An article posted on the auction site www.julienslive.com mentioned the chair as follows:
“A Boston-style rocking chair owned by President John F. Kennedy and gifted to his valet, George Thomas, by Jacqueline Kennedy after the President’s assassination. Tropical hardwood, cane seat and back, made by M. Hayat & Bros. Peshawar, Pakistan, circa 1961. Upholstered arm rests and seat cushion were made by White House upholsterer Larry Arata.”
“I had heard my dad describe the gifting of this rocking chair to JFK in the 1960s but I never knew it had actually happened,” said Khalid Aziz, the former chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and son of Abdul Aziz of the M Hayat & Bros, Peshawar. “A newspaper story says that this chair, which was made in Peshawar, appears to have been his favourite rocking chair.”
M Hayat & Bros. have always been known for making quality furniture and are still in business.
The website notes that the iconic symbol of President Kennedy’s years as president was his rocking chair, prescribed by his physician Dr Janet Travell to alleviate the constant back pain caused by his war injuries. The writer noted that approximately a dozen such chairs were found at the White House and various retreats used by Kennedy, but this particular rocking chair made in Peshawar was the only one found in his private bedroom and was gifted by Jacqueline Kennedy after her husband’s death to his longtime valet George Thomas.
It further says
“Unlike the other rockers, this chair was not made by the P&P co. of North Carolina. It was made by Hayat & Bros. of Peshawar, Pakistan. It is distinguishable from the P & P chairs in several areas which make it possible to positively identify it as the chair seen in the president’s bedroom. These details are: the pattern of the caning; the width of the split cane; the turned balls at the tops and rear leg stiles; the turning near the top (below the arms) and bottom of the front legs (just above the stretchers); turned details at the center of the front lower stretcher; the absence of metal brackets to join the arms with the turned front legs.”
The gift of the chair is referenced in the book, The Kennedy White House by Carl Sferrazza Anthony.
It is said President Ayub came to know about President Kennedy’s fondness for rocking chairs during his visits to the White House and he made it a point to have one made in Peshawar and gifted it to Jacqueline Kennedy for use by her husband. He had also gifted her a horse on the occasion of his state visit to the US. The website also said: “This present caused much ado because personal gifts were not supposed to be so lavish and Mrs. Kennedy refused to give it up. The use of this rocker in the President’s private bedroom was no doubt to prevent any further uproar over such gifts.”
At the auction, a photograph of the late President’s White House bedroom showing the chair accompanied this lot. The photograph was obtained from the still photography library at the Kennedy Library.
The chair was featured in the exhibition
The American Throne, Royal Seating for a Democratic venue Evergreen House Museum of the Johns Hopkins University, 2011 Curator – James Abbott author of Designing Camelot, The Kennedy White House Restoration. It was accompanied by a 22 page binder containing the research and photographs relating to this chair.
Source : The News
