Lincolnshire Rush-seated Corner Chair corner chair, 3 straight backpoles, with pad feet, 2 splats, double Lincs front stretcher, double rear stretcher, double side stretchers, 3 part crest rail,

WS 69 Lincolnshire Corner Rush-seated Chair

This corner chair appeared in a Lincoln auction house in 2012. I studied it closely and was convinced it was a Lincolnshire chair the like of which I had never seen before. When it came to the auction someone else wanted it more than me, as I was left being the under-bidder. It was in fair condition and really should have spent the rest of its life in a museum in the county; I think I could search for many years and never see another: anyway we can all enjoy the image of it here. I sent a copy of this picture to Dr Bernard Cotton and he replied that this was the only Lincolnshire rush seated chair he had ever seen - it just makes me feel all the more foolish for not bidding higher.

© William Sergeant 2019

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chairs x 4, with straight backpoles with tapered feet & button finials, 4 ladders, domed with downward shape, rush bars, rush-seated, Lincolnshire front stretcher, double rear stretchers, double side stretchers, turned front legs & pad feet

WS 68 Lincolnshire rush-seated chairs, probably made by Ashton/Green

These four identical chairs appeared as one lot at the auction house in Ossett, South Yorkshire. They are in excellent condition with virtually no wear to the legs or stretcher at the front: they were sold to me for very little as no one else was interested in them. This design of Lincolnshire rush-seated chair is by far the most frequent; I would say that 50% of those I see are of this design; elegant, sturdy and beautifully crafted. I didn't keep these chairs but was happy to pass them on to a keen collector of all things from Louth as they were probably made by the Ashton/Green families around Louth. He also wanted to take Mr Muggins, the cat, but he is very valuable to me as he is in charge of vermin control around the farm buildings and I would not let him go!

© William Sergeant 2019

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair, with straight backpoles with tapered feet & button finials, 4 ladders, domed with downward shape, rush bars, rush-seated, Lincolnshire front stretcher, double rear stretcher, double side stretchers, cabriole front legs & pad feet WS 66

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair WS 66 

This is one of 4 identical chairs that were put up for sale at Criterion Auctions in Wandsworth; from the picture I guessed they were from Lincolnshire but the legs were not easily made out. It was not until several weeks later when they were delivered that the full extent of what I had bought became apparent. They are excellent chairs of a good age with front legs that I had not seen before and they do not appear in Dr Bernard Cotton's The English Regional Chair.  However, after I sent some pictures to Dr Cotton, he pointed out to me that the leg design is similar to the chair which was made about 1740 depicted on the front cover of his book which represented the height of fashion at that time. Perhaps the makers of this chair were using similar design features from more upmarket Windsor chairs on their humble chairs to raise the profile of them. This design also closely resembles that found on the chairs made by the cabinetmakers and chairmakers from Philadelphia in the early 18th century. Bearing in mind that the first Pilgrim Fathers left England from Boston in Lincolnshire it is perhaps not surprising that they may share a common heritage.

WS 65 Lincolnshire rush-seated chair legs compared

The left hand leg is from the chair in the photograph above and the other is from a classic Ashton/Green Lincolnshire rush-seated chair. Both are referred to as cabriole in shape and have turnings at the top but the left hand one has been shaped into an elegant style complete with a turned pad foot.

© William Sergeant 2019

Lincolnshire comb back side chair with shaped crest rail, stylised fleur de lys splat, 4 long spindles, turned stiles, 3 ring leg turnings x 4 with vase shaped feet

WS 19 Lincolnshire comb back side chair with stylised fleur de lys splat

Unsigned chair with many features of a later Lincolnshire side chair - shaped ends to the top comb and decorative back splat make this slightly different to anything in Dr Bernard Cotton's The English Regional Chair: my guess is that it was made by G Wilson of Grantham on Manthorpe Rd.

© William Sergeant 2019

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair: straight back uprights with tapered feet & flattened top finials; 4 ladders with lower indented shaping; turned front legs of birch with pad feet morticed into the seat frame, with rushing bars; front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double side & rear stretchers

WS 60 Peter Tree, chair maker, discovers birch front legs

The pair of chairs which appear in this post had some wood in the front legs that I didn't recognise - one of the hall marks of a Lincolnshire rush seated chair is that they are invariably made out of ash. So the only thing to do was to pay a visit to my good friend Peter Tree: after some discussion in which we ruled out most woods we could think of, Peter found his eyeglass and on closer inspection of the grain he established that the wood in question was in fact birch! It's not at all common in vernacular chairmaking to use birch in the UK but chairs that were imported from Scandinavian countries often were. In July 2014 I was able to get Adam Bowett to look closely at this chair and he confirmed that it was in fact birch wood in the front legs.

© William Sergeant 2019