Friday 28 February 2020
The Windsor Chair-Maker from The Countryman at Work written and illustrated by Thomas Hennell, The Architectural Press, London 1947
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| The Countryman at Work written and illustrated by Thomas Hennell, The Architectural Press, London 1947 |
The Windsor Chair-Maker
Mr. Goodchild, of Knap Hill Common, High Wycombe, is the last of the Wycombe chair-makers to do the whole job himself, and unassisted. In this he is an exception among skilled craftsmen, who according to our common ideas have been driven by mass-production to specialise in some part and detail of the manufacture in which their fathers were masters of the whole process. That this generalisation may be fallacious is proved by the fact that Mr. Goodchild’s father was not a maker of whole chairs, but only an adzer of chair-seats. That is to say, one who shapes the curved upper surface of Windsor chair-seats from the flat plank. So the present Mr. Goodchild is not simply the sole survivor of a race of craftsmen who knew and practised their craft from A to Z ; but he is one of those exceptional natures who cannot rest content with less than a complete knowledge and practice of their calling, in which they are the developers of new and original designs.
No one probably knows more than Mr. Goodchild about the Windsor chair ; for he has gained certainty, the fruit of lifelong experiment and curious inquiry, about the making and fitting of its parts and the quality and fitness of all the tools for that purpose. He has repaired chairs of one and two centuries old, and in taking them to pieces no subtlety of form, workmanship or material has escaped his practised eye. In his shop, besides the ordinary chairs with beechen legs and backs and seats of elm, are chairs made of yew, cherry and oak. At our first visit there happened to be some thick planks of magnolia and acacia-wood, cut to the outline of chair-seats but with the surface as yet unworked into curves. Taking up one of these blank seats, Mr. Goodchild set it on an ancient oak board by the shop’s threshold, and steadying it under one foot began with apparent carelessness to swing a large hollow adze upon it, chopping out a series of rounded chips. The heavy and extremely sharp tool was handled with as much freedom and expedition as a stick of charcoal in the hand of an accomplished artist. As we watched, the double curve at the front of the seat appeared, and the hollow in the centre, while it was evident that a flat margin of exactly the intended breadth and outline had been left round back and sides, and not one unnecessary stroke had been made with the adze. We noticed that the handle of this adze was not only smooth- polished from use, it was actually worn into deep depressions where the thumb and fingers of both hands had grasped it. Shaping elm chair-seats with this tool had been the elder Mr. Goodchild’s daily employment throughout his life. And this adze-handle had probably outlasted several steel heads ; for though the blade is heavy it is kept keen as a razor. Stooping to pick up my pencil I chanced to touch it lightly with the back of my hand ; it instantly drew blood.
Mr. Goodchild told us that he liked to adze out one or two seats at a time and then turn to different work; it is evidently the hardest and most exhausting part of chair-making : and has been generally superseded by machines. The first machine invented flaked out the curves approximately, and left as much shaving and scraping as before to be done by hand. But a second is a form of routing- machine which gets nearer to the finish intended.
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| The tools of the Windsor chairmaker Auger, hollow adze, framer's hammer, compasses, hooking-up knife, turner's axe, dotter, travisher, cleaning-off iron, devil, steel for sharpening scraper (made from rubbed-down file) hand scraper, straight-edge shave for flat parts and smoker back hollow knife. |
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| Tools for finishing the chair seat: wooden screwdriver and breast-bib with strap over neck and strap around chest - length of tommy bar 7¼", stock and spoon-bit |
The board for the seat is one-and-a-half inches thick and eighteen inches square, and is shaped with a band-saw and jig to the characteristic outline, straight in front, with a shorter straighter projection at the back. The “ blank ” seats are sent from the factory to Mr. Goodchild to be adzed-up and finished. Formerly a long saw was used in cutting them out by hand, a larger edition of the saw illustrated, the blade of which is tightened by a tourniquet.
When the chair-seat has been adzed it is not immediately polished, but holes are bored on the under side for the four legs, and from above for the bow (this is fitted on either side outside the back legs) and for the sticks and banister which form the chair-back. The holes for the front legs are bored upright, but those for the back legs are set outwards and rearwards. The distance between them is measured but the inclination is judged by eye.
The legs and stretchers (the horizontal supports connecting them) have been turned on the treadle-lathe. In this work a boy sometimes assists, for it is nearly impossible to hold an absolutely steady chisel whilst supplying the motive-power with one foot. The chair-legs are made of split beech-logs, shaved up with a drawknife on the frame and seat called a “ horse.” Only two or three chisels are used : the pattern is a narrow board with a few “ nicks ” in it, placed between the chucks and under the leg which is being turned. The swelled curve of the leg, and the rings upon it, appear swiftly and as if inevitably.
The legs are wedged into place between three “ cog-pegs ” which are inserted in the bench, and marked by a simple gauge or dotter. These marks are drilled with the stock and spoon-bit to take the stretcher. The front and back stretchers are also marked and bored at their middle points, to take the cross-stretcher. The three stretchers then form a horizontal H, whose free ends are now fitted into the four legs. Then the legs are fitted into the seat.
The remaining work on the seat is done when it is set up in this manner, and the tools illustrated are used for perfecting its shape in the following order. The travisher, a shave with a nearly straight edge, but just sufficiently running-off at the sides ; the cleaning-off iron, a narrower but similarly shaped blade ; then the devil, a steel edge set vertically through the wooden hand-piece, and the hand-scraper, which is this piece of steel with its handle. There is a right way of sharpening the scraper and of holding it so that it will work. Its edge is not keen, but is formed of two angles, and is used with the oblique surface behind. To sharpen it a steel burnisher, made from a hard bradawl or of a file which has been ground smooth, is used. The last tool is the narrow straight-edged shave for the flat parts. The chair- maker provides his own wooden handles.
The chair-back is framed with a bow of which both ends are fixed in the seat. This bow is generally cut from a piece of plank, steamed and bent round a block which is clamped upon the bending-table by means of pegs and wedges. When dry it is removed and packed in a crate with others (so that their free ends are held to the same position) and where necessary a strut is fixed to maintain the shape, sometimes, as in the old yew-tree chairs, the bow is made not from a plank but from a bough, which is roughly squared before being bent, and more care fully shaved-up when it is used.
The holes for the sticks and the mortise for the banister are cut in the upper part of the seat, and the ends of the bow are “ boxed in.” The sticks and banister are set up into the seat, compasses are used to find the centre of the bow, and the positions into which the sticks must fit are marked with pencil. Then the bow is taken out and fixed with wedges between the cog-pegs with its ends upwards; the mortise for the banister is cut and the holes for the sticks are bored. So the chair is then fitted together, the heavy broad-faced framer’s hammer being used to drive the parts home.
When chairs were made for export they were not fitted together ; the seats had to be finished and the holes and mortises made, without the advantage of having the chair set on its legs. So it was held on to the bench by the weight of a heavy iron cramp, under which it could be shifted without losing a moment. A long screw- cramp is also used when necessary for bracing together the legs and stretchers, especially if it be a high chair with several stretchers. I never saw any glue used, but, whether used or not, there it was on the stove ; a simmering glue-pot being the one companion indispensable to any carpenter’s happiness.
The names of the commonest varieties of chair made here are the Windsor wheel-back (so-called from a small ornament in its banister), the fiddleback, the smoker (an armchair), the “ Chippendale,” the church chair and the child’s chair. A large chair of the smoker type had come in for repair, its wooden seat being most surprisingly worn through. The explanation was that it had been used in a chapel to mount the preacher, who stood on the seat and grasped the bow, marking his points with his foot.
When the chair-seat has been adzed it is not immediately polished, but holes are bored on the under side for the four legs, and from above for the bow (this is fitted on either side outside the back legs) and for the sticks and banister which form the chair-back. The holes for the front legs are bored upright, but those for the back legs are set outwards and rearwards. The distance between them is measured but the inclination is judged by eye.
The legs and stretchers (the horizontal supports connecting them) have been turned on the treadle-lathe. In this work a boy sometimes assists, for it is nearly impossible to hold an absolutely steady chisel whilst supplying the motive-power with one foot. The chair-legs are made of split beech-logs, shaved up with a drawknife on the frame and seat called a “ horse.” Only two or three chisels are used : the pattern is a narrow board with a few “ nicks ” in it, placed between the chucks and under the leg which is being turned. The swelled curve of the leg, and the rings upon it, appear swiftly and as if inevitably.
The legs are wedged into place between three “ cog-pegs ” which are inserted in the bench, and marked by a simple gauge or dotter. These marks are drilled with the stock and spoon-bit to take the stretcher. The front and back stretchers are also marked and bored at their middle points, to take the cross-stretcher. The three stretchers then form a horizontal H, whose free ends are now fitted into the four legs. Then the legs are fitted into the seat.
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| Top: Two chair legs (front) wedged up between cog-pegs for marking centres - grease holes - the spoon bit is dipped here as required); Middle: bow saw, bows in crate and cramp; Bottom left: bow made from yew bough with strut; right: bow made from plank with strut |
The chair-back is framed with a bow of which both ends are fixed in the seat. This bow is generally cut from a piece of plank, steamed and bent round a block which is clamped upon the bending-table by means of pegs and wedges. When dry it is removed and packed in a crate with others (so that their free ends are held to the same position) and where necessary a strut is fixed to maintain the shape, sometimes, as in the old yew-tree chairs, the bow is made not from a plank but from a bough, which is roughly squared before being bent, and more care fully shaved-up when it is used.
The holes for the sticks and the mortise for the banister are cut in the upper part of the seat, and the ends of the bow are “ boxed in.” The sticks and banister are set up into the seat, compasses are used to find the centre of the bow, and the positions into which the sticks must fit are marked with pencil. Then the bow is taken out and fixed with wedges between the cog-pegs with its ends upwards; the mortise for the banister is cut and the holes for the sticks are bored. So the chair is then fitted together, the heavy broad-faced framer’s hammer being used to drive the parts home.
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| Top: bending table and blocks; Bottom: seat and legs of a wheel back chair ready for fixing bow sticks and banister |
The names of the commonest varieties of chair made here are the Windsor wheel-back (so-called from a small ornament in its banister), the fiddleback, the smoker (an armchair), the “ Chippendale,” the church chair and the child’s chair. A large chair of the smoker type had come in for repair, its wooden seat being most surprisingly worn through. The explanation was that it had been used in a chapel to mount the preacher, who stood on the seat and grasped the bow, marking his points with his foot.
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| Treadle lathe |
Monday 24 February 2020
Low bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped G Wilson Grantham with 3-piercing fleur de lys upper splat, single pierced lower splat, 6 long spindles, 6 short, turned underarms, straight seat sides, 2 ring legs with vase feet, H stretcher with darts,
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| Low bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped G Wilson Grantham WS 27 |
No doubt where this chair was made: G WILSON GRANTHAM is impressed at the rear of the seat and for good measure very similar to NE 69 on p. 126 of Dr B D Cotton’s The English Regional Chair (1990), though that chair has 4 short spindles either side rather than three. Where Manthorpe Road stops at the traffic lights next to King's School Grantham there is a fuel station; this where the building stood in which this chair was made: the row of cottages opposite is where the men employed by Wilson lived. It was a big concern which made many chairs of various shapes and sizes, which explains why Wilson chairs are the most common of all Grantham chairs.
© William Sergeant 2020
Saturday 22 February 2020
Comb back Lincolnshire side chair by John Wilson of Grantham with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove turnings on the front legs, plain back legs and H stretcher
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| Lincolnshire comb back side chair by John Wilson of Grantham WS 78 |
It is not clear where John Wilson was born in about 1779. He married Ann Clark at St Mary and St Peter's Church, Harlaxton in September 1797. Harlaxton is less than three miles south west of Grantham towards Melton Mowbray. They had four children between 1805 and 1816, all baptised in Harlaxton. On each occasion, John Wilson's occupation is recorded as 'carpenter'.
A sad notice in the Stamford Mercury on 31 October 1834 reads:
"At the Guildhall, Grantham on Thursday the 23rd inst., John Wilson, of Little Gonerby, chair-maker, was bound over in 40l. recognizance for his good behaviour for 12 months, for an assault on John Clements, of the same place, chair-maker. This fellow has long been the terror of Grantham and the neighbourhood, when in a state of intoxication."
He died on 15 May 1837, aged 58, at Little Gonerby.
Friday 21 February 2020
Unstamped comb back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair; curved cresting rail with turned stiles morticed into the arm bow, turned underarm supports, 9 long spindles, 2 x 4 underarm spindles, ring & cove front leg turning with lower ring & plain back legs, H stretcher with darts, attributed to William Taylor
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| attributed to William Taylor Lincolnshire comb back WS 180 |
Comb back windsor armchairs are so distinctive and peculiar to Lincolnshire. They are not easy to find as few have ever come onto the market; they were made by MARSH (SLEAFORD) and CAMM & G.WILSON ( GRANTHAM). So when I spotted this one for sale at an auction house near Manchester I was intrigued as I did not recognise the maker. I purchased the chair, thanks to being able to bid over the internet even though I had not viewed before the auction. I was not disappointed when I collected it, the chair was in good order, unsigned and every component made from ashwood.
It was not till I got it home that I was able to work out who had made it. The underarm supports were so similar to the ones on the TAYLORS signed chair in picture No 167 and both chairs had the same finish applied, a sort of dark varnish. But the telling detail was the incised ring around the back leg where the side stretcher joins. It's a detail that I have only ever seen on two chairs - both signed TAYLORS and it appears on the comb back chair as well. So I was in no doubt which workshop this came out of: William Taylor. Moreover, I am able to precisely date this chair as he was only working between 1811 and October 1815. Which makes this chair over 200 hundred years old.
© William Sergeant 2020
© William Sergeant 2020
William Taylor of Grantham high bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair with 3-piercing fleur de lys and pierced urn upper splat, single pierced lower splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarm supports, H stretcher with darts, ring & cove turning w lower ring, plain back, bell shaped seat sides
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| WS 126 TAYLORS GRANTHAM |
made a remarkable claim in the Stamford Mercury on 25 June 1813:
"WILLIAM TAYLOR, the Original Windsor Chair-maker, No.11, WESTGATE, GRANTHAM returns thanks for the very liberal encouragement he has for several years experienced at Stow Green Fair, and informs his friends and the public in general, he will have an assortment of Yew and other Windsor Chairs at the above fair, on the 2d and 3d of July, when orders will be thankfully received. Observe, none are his make but those marked "Taylor's, Grantham," on the seat. Turning executed to order, all sorts of spinning wheels made and repaired, screws cut for benches, cheese and other presses, on the shortest notice."
This is an incredible statement to publish in a public newspaper; it implies that he was the first person to make these chairs in the area and for the public to beware of lookalike copies.
Bumble - a regional word for rush
Two of the late 17th century inventories from the Lincolnshire Archives, for John Brooke (1665) and William Botamley (1691) include entries for 'Bumbles' and the entry from ‘The English Dialect Dictionary’ Joseph Wright, OUP 1898 is set out:
“BUMBLE, sb.6 Yks. Lin. [bu-ml.] 1. The bulrush, Scirpus lacustris, with which chairs are bottomed. Also used attrib. Lin. The chair's got a bumble bottom (R.E.C.). n.Lin. N. & Q. (1852) 1st S v. 375 ; n.Lin.1 I can't abide them bumble-seated chairs ; it's makkin' onessen like a Paapist to set doon 'e one on 'em. sw-Lin.1 2. Comp. Bumble-barfan, a horse-collar made of reeds or rushes as distinguished from the leather bargham (q.v.). n.Yks. 12 ne. Yks.1 The bumble-barfam was specially used for young colts and fillies when first yoked (s.v. Barfhame). m.Yks. 1 VOL. I. [Bull-rushes ... in some countries . . . are called bumbles, WESTMACOTT Script. Herbal (1694) 32.]”
It seems to have been a relatively rare usage; a search of the British Newspaper Archive reveals only one advertisement that uses the term. In the Lincolnshire Chronicle, 3 March 1854 appears the following insertion:
Note that Mr Pearson also had the good taste to have half a dozen each joiners' chairs and "excellent Windsor arm chairs".
It seems to have been a relatively rare usage; a search of the British Newspaper Archive reveals only one advertisement that uses the term. In the Lincolnshire Chronicle, 3 March 1854 appears the following insertion:
- NAVENBY, near LINCOLN. Important SALE of AGRICULTURAL STOCK, IMPLEMENTS, HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, &c., &c. To be SOLD AUCTION, By Mr. Rd. Talbot, On Tuesday, the 7th day of March, 1854, on the premises of the late Mr. Thomas Pearson, at Navenby aforesaid, (by order of the Trustees,) THE following very valuable LIVE & DEAD STOCK, Brewing Utensils, Ale Casks, HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, &c, &c. The LIVE and DEAD STOCK comprise 1 grey mare rising four-years-old, 1 black horse seven-years-old, excellent milch cow, 3 calves, 3 gilts in-pig, 1 sow in-pig, 1 narrow-wheeled waggon, nearly new, 2 ditto Scotch carts, 1 horse cart, 1 light spring cart, 2 thrashing machines, six-horse power, 1 hermaphrodite, jack riddle, 3 ladders, turnip and seed drill, 12 colters, corn and seed drill, 12 colters, ridge drill, 2 pair of harrows, drags, 2 ploughs, elm, ash, and oak planking, sheep troughs, pig ditto, well ditto, quantity of old iron and metal, lot of turnip trays, 2 picks, dressing machine complete, machine cloths, four ropes, weighing machine, sheep netting and stakes, forks, rakes, scythes and shafts, strike, roller, quantity of sacks, 3 pair of gears, 3 cart saddles, 4 bluffs, hip straps and cruppers, saddle and bridle, tackling for horses, chaff box, harness for light cart, tumbrels, Prince Regent potatoes, stack pegs, wheelbarrow, scuttles, stone riddle, stone hammer, iron bar, &c, &c. The HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, &c, consists of feather beds and bedding, 3 camp bedsteads, four-post bedstead, three stump bedsteads, six joiners' chairs, three bumble-bottom chairs, two ditto, and stools, two dressing tables, twenty-four hour clock, corner cupboard, sets of drawers, oak chest, ditto, mangle, wainscot dining table, wainscot desk, superior eight day clock, sofa, two wainscot tea tables, magogany stand, 6 excellent Windsor arm chairs; also a large brewing copper, barrels, and all necessary brewing utensils, and a variety of other articles, too numerous to mention. The sale of Live and Dead Stock will commence at Eleven o'clock precisely, and the Furniture immediately after. Auction and Valuation Offices, Bank-street, Lincoln.
Note that Mr Pearson also had the good taste to have half a dozen each joiners' chairs and "excellent Windsor arm chairs".
Wednesday 19 February 2020
Another possible Joseph Newton chair restored
Before restoration the whole comb back was warped by the old wrought iron rods (the threads of which are an engineering glory in themselves), but the nuts were very heavily tightened. pic.twitter.com/tm9GdaRqfR— Julian Parker (@jhjparker) February 19, 2020
Monday 17 February 2020
1691 - Inventory of William Botamley, Chair maker of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
"Inventory of [the] Goods and Chattells of William Botamley of Gainsburgh in the County of Lincoln[shire] Chair maker deceased made and appraised the seaventh day of March Anno Dmi 1691 by us whose names are hereunto subscribed as followeth
£
|
s
|
d
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imprimis his purse and apparell |
1 -
|
0 -
|
0
|
In the house
| |||
| Item one pewter Case and pewter upon it | 1 - | 0 - | 0 |
| Item one table & 2 stooles | 0 - | 3 - | 0 |
| Item one range & 2 andirons | 0 - | 5 - | 0 |
| Item 4 Chaires | 0 - | 2 - | 0 |
In the Kitchin
| |||
| Item 2 brass pans | 0 - | 4 - | 0 |
| Item one little table & 3 chaires | 0 - | 3 - | 0 |
| Item one skellit | 0 - | 1 - | 6 |
In the Chamber over the house
| |||
| Item one feather bed & bedstead & furniture with | 1 - | 6 - | 8 |
| Curtaines | |||
| Item one table | 0 - | 2 - | 6 |
| Item one Chest of Drawers | 0 - | 5 - | 0 |
| Item 6 chaires | 0 - | 5 - | 0 |
| Item one glasses Case | 0 - | 1 - | 0 |
| Item one wanded chaire † | 0 - | 2 - | 6 |
| In the chamber over the shoppe | |||
| Item one feather bed & bedstead & furniture | 0 - | 15 - | 0 |
| with curtaines | |||
| Item one Chest | 0 - | 1 - | 6 |
| Item 2 little chaires & a trunke | 0 - | 3 - | 0 |
-
| |||
| Item chaires finished and to finish | 0 - | 10 - | 0 |
| Item wood in the yard | 1 - | 10 - | 0 |
| Item Bumbles § | 0 - | 5 - | 0 |
| Item tooles in the shoppe | 1 - | 0 - | 0 |
| Item linnen & hemping cloth sheets & napkins | 0 - | 13 - | 4 |
| Item in other huslemts §§ | 0 - | 5 - | 0 |
| Sum | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| Edward Loughton | |||
| Thomas Kippax | |||
| John Hardy | |||
| his | |||
| Benjamin B Yates | |||
| marke | |||
| Exhibitum fuit hujusmodi Inventarium apud Lincolni octavo die mensis Martij Anno Domini ( stylo Angliae) per administrationem pro vero et pleno Inventario etc | |||
| This inventory was presented at Lincoln on the 8th day of March 1691 (English style) by Adminstration as a true & full inventory etc. |
† Wanded chair: chair made of wickerwork or with wickerwork seat and back rushes (Glossary, p. 152 ‘Probate Inventories of Lincoln Citizens 1661-1714’ edited by J.A. Johnston, Lincoln Record Society & The Boydell Press 1991)
§ Bumbles are woven bull rushes (p. 145 ibid.)
See also entry from ‘The English Dialect Dictionary’ Joseph Wright, OUP 1898:
“BUMBLE, sb.6 Yks. Lin. [bu-ml.] 1. The bulrush, Scirpus lacustris, with which chairs are bottomed. Also used attrib. Lin. The chair's got a bumble bottom (R.E.C.). n.Lin. N. & Q. (1852) 1st S v. 375 ; n.Lin.1 I can't abide them bumble-seated chairs ; it's makkin' onessen like a Paapist to set doon 'e one on 'em. sw-Lin.1 2. Comp. Bumble-barfan, a horse-collar made of reeds or rushes as distinguished from the leather bargham (q.v.). n.Yks. 12 ne. Yks.1 The bumble-barfam was specially used for young colts and fillies when first yoked (s.v. Barfhame). m.Yks. 1 VOL. I. [Bull-rushes ... in some countries . . . are called bumbles, WESTMACOTT Script. Herbal (1694) 32.]”
§§ huslements: abbreviation of householdments – minor and miscellaneous furnishings (p. 148 ibid.)
Reference Name INV/189/196
Name: Botamley, William
Profession: Chair Maker
Place: Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
Date: 1690-1691
Repository: Lincolnshire Archives [057]
© Julian Parker 2020
© Julian Parker 2020
1665 - Inventory of John Brooke, Chair maker of St Martin's Parish, Lincoln
"A true and perfect Inventory of all the Good and Chatt[els] of John Brooke late of the parish of St Martin in Lincoln Chaire maker deceased taken and appraised this 15th day of July 1665, by Us whose names are here under written
| £ | s | d | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inprimis His Purse and his Apparell | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Item, Wood great and small in the house and yard | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Item 9 Rakes and other similar one implemts in the shop | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Item white Rods | 9 | 10 | 0[] |
| Item Coine in the little Chamber nixt the sheets | 0 | 5 | 0 |
In the Great chamber
| |||
| Item one dozen of Napkins, one pair of lyn sheets, fr pillow } | |||
| Cases, 2 Table cloths, 2 long Towels, 3 paire of Course sheets, } | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| One Silver Cup and two silver spoons in a seeld chest nigh the } | |||
| Window, and the Chest } | |||
| Item one course Covering, one Blanket, one pillow and } | |||
| one pillow case with a trundle bed } | 0 | 5 | 0[] |
| Item one paire of Curtaines and Vallance, One Coverlet } | |||
| one blanket, one paire of sheets, one pillow, one pillow case } | 0 | 10 | [] |
| and a Chaff bed } | |||
| Item two Covered Stooles | 0 | 2 | [] |
| Item one Table Cupboard with a Carpet, one Cradle } | |||
| one Chest and one Stoole } | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Item One wanded Chair, † one standing Close presse | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Item One Seeing glass | 0 | 0 | 6 |
In the Back Shop
| |||
Item one dozen of Chaires
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
In the house
| |||
| Item Two flaggons, one pinte can, and one Gill can } | |||
| 8 pewter dishes, one chamber pot & two Candlesticks } | 0 | 17 | 6 |
| Item one Brass pott, 3 brasse pans, one warming } | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Pan, one Brasse Chafin dish, & one Brasse morter & pestull } | |||
| Item one high Cupboard | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Item 3 little Tables and one Carpet | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Item One Salting Kit, †† three Water Kits†† and } | |||
| one drink stand } | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Item one andiron§, one Spit, One paire of Cobirons§§ } | |||
| one ffire skummer, one paire of Tongs, one dripping } | |||
| pan, Two End irons§, one Tallow Cawk, & hooks } | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| one frying pan and other old iron } | |||
| Item one Mare and a foale and one foot (?) follower | 3 | 0 | [] |
| Item Bumble Reed ‡ | 0 | 5 | [] |
| Item Stallbords blocks and other implements | 0 | 0[] | [] |
| Total of this Inventory | 23 | [13] | [] |
| Roger Clark [x] his mark John Goodinn [x] his mark | |||
| Samuell Booth Robert Burmoster | |||
| 1200 [] E[] fuit huiu[] .. apud Lincoln 12° Aug[] & pri[?]o [..] sub & S[] |
[ ]: the original has losses at the margin where not all of the document remains.
† Wanded chair: chair made of wickerwork or with wickerwork seat and back rushes (Glossary, p. 152 ‘Probate Inventories of Lincoln Citizens 1661-1714’ edited by J.A. Johnston, Lincoln Record Society & The Boydell Press 1991)
†† Kit: tub (p. 149, ibid.)
§ Andiron; also End iron: a device for raising logs above hearth level (p. 145, ibid.)
§§ Cobiron: a small version of an andiron, usually with hooks on the front to support spits (p. 146, ibid.)
‡ Bumbles are woven bull rushes (p. 145 ibid.) See also entry from ‘The English Dialect Dictionary’ Joseph Wright, OUP 1898: “BUMBLE, sb.6 Yks. Lin. [bu-ml.] 1. The bulrush, Scirpus lacustris, with which chairs are bottomed. Also used attrib. Lin. The chair's got a bumble bottom (R.E.C.). n.Lin. N. & Q. (1852) 1st S v. 375 ; n.Lin.1 I can't abide them bumble-seated chairs ; it's makkin' onessen like a Paapist to set doon 'e one on 'em. sw-Lin.1 2. Comp. Bumble-barfan, a horse-collar made of reeds or rushes as distinguished from the leather bargham (q.v.). n.Yks. 12 ne. Yks. 1 The bumble-barfam was specially used for young colts and fillies when first yoked (s.v. Barfhame). m.Yks.1 VOL. I. [Bull-rushes ... in some countries . . . are called bumbles, WESTMACOTT Script. Herbal (1694) 32.]”
Reference Name INV/165/41
Name: Brooke, John
Profession: Chair Maker
Place: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Date: 1665
Repository: Lincolnshire Archives [057]
© Julian Parker 2020
Sunday 16 February 2020
1663 - Bishop Sanderson's Flagg-Bottomed Chairs and Other Stories
William Sergeant has written in this post about the price of an 18th century Lincolnshire Windsor chair compared to contemporaneous day rates for labour. That material was found under the following reference at the Lincolnshire Archives:
Lincoln Cathedral Library: Account Book including: coroners' verdicts 1660; household accounts 1718-1729; inventories of goods of Bishop Sanderson (1663) and Anne Sanderson (1669). Account book including: debts owed by and inventories of Robert Sanderson (bishop's son) 1663-1667; household accounts 1681-1709; rent accounts 1826-1866; tenancy agreements 1860. Loose papers 1674-1822. Date: 1660-1866 Repository: Lincolnshire Archives [057]Date: 1660-1866 D&C/LIB/21
The household accounts 1718-1729 were those of Mrs Caudwell. She turns out to have been Susanna Sanderson, granddaughter of Bishop Sanderson, b.1679 to his son Robert Sanderson b.1630 and Mary Oxwick b.1631, baptised at South Carlton, Lincolnshire on 9th June 1769. She married William Caudwell at Pulloxhill, Bedfordshire on 17th November 1709. William Caudwell was the Vicar of Flitton cum Silso in Bedfordshire.
The Bedfordshire Archives catalogue (Reference Fasti/1/Flitt Title FLITTON (St.John the Baptist) listing the parish incumbents since time almost immemorial has the following entry:
"William Cauldwell - 17 Aug 1686 [B.A.; on death of William Harris; Patron the Bishop, by lapse. Married Mrs Sanderson at Pulloxhill on 17 Nov 1709 and was buried 21 Jul 1722]"
William Caudwell's will (National Archives' reference PROB 11/587/249), proved 16 October 1722, apart from a small bequest to the poor of Flitton cum Silso, left two closes of land in Coventry and everything else to his wife Susannah. The will of Susanna (sic), (National Archives' reference PROB 11/659/144), proved 9 May 1733, by her sister Jane Clarke left £20 each to sundry nieces and nephews and the residue to said sister Jane.
The parish of Flitton cum Silso(e) is in Bedfordshire, which until 1837, was perhaps improbably, part of the Diocese of Lincoln. There must lie the explanation for how the Bishop's granddaughter laid her hands upon a volume, later in the Cathedral Library, which had for 55 years contained her grandfather the Bishop's inventory, which she recycled as her household account book.
Turning to her grandfather, Izaak Walton's The Life of Dr. Robert Sanderson may be found here. A graduate of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1631 he was appointed Chaplain to King Charles I, who is alleged to have said: "I carry my ears to hear other preachers; but I carry my conscience to hear Mr. Sanderson, and to act accordingly." During the Commonwealth he was seized and carried prisoner to Lincoln and was for some years in straitened circumstances. At the Restoration he presented an address of congratulation from the clergy of Lincoln on 23rd July 1660. The following month he was retstored to the Regius Professorship of Divinity in the University of Oxford from which he had been removed by the Parliamentarians in 1648. He was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln on 28 October 1660 and died on 29th January 1663.
Upon his death, as was routine, an inventory of his dwelling was taken, room by room and a value placed on each item. This list accounts for one of the wealthiest premises in the county and as such is of great interest to the furniture historian. Extracts relating to seating are as follows:
"An inventary of the goods and chattells of the late Reverend Robert Lord Bishop of Lincoln deceased who dyed the 29th day of January 1663
[...]"
The most valuable seating was the turkey work chairs. A glossary of the terms used in late 17th century Lincoln inventories may be found in this post. Bishop Sanderson's inventory however uses a term that does not appear there: flagg bottoms. The Oxford English Dictionary sheds light:
"Flagg — or Flag, one of various endogenous plants, with a bladed or ensiform leaf, mostly growing in moist places. Now regarded as properly denoting a member of the genus Iris (esp. I. pseudacorus) but sometimes (as in early use) applied to any reed or rush — OED (1989)."
There is no doubt, therefore, that Bishop Sanderson's appraisers were referring to rush seated or matted chairs but to my recollection, this is the first time that either I or William Sergeant have come across this expression.
It has long been assumed that rush-seated chairs were produced for the less well off in society but here is clear evidence to suggest otherwise: some at least found their way to the Bishop's Palace.
An internet search reveals one or two 18th century American inventories containing references to flagg-bottomed chairs. An examination of the British Newspaper Archive reveals 4 references to flag-bottomed chairs in 1773, 1802 twice, and 1848. The last is a short story from the Newry Telegraph of 15 February 1848 called 'The Sleigh Ride' which contains the following passage: "Mother, these flag-bottoms are very unfashionable. I really cannot bear the sight of them. Why, everybody has mahogany chairs now-a-days. I wish you could see uncle’s!” and uncle’s chairs were so often alluded to, that "old flag-bottom” from that time forth became the cognomen of a parlor chair." Furniture historians may make of that what they will!
© Julian Parker 2020
Lincoln Cathedral Library: Account Book including: coroners' verdicts 1660; household accounts 1718-1729; inventories of goods of Bishop Sanderson (1663) and Anne Sanderson (1669). Account book including: debts owed by and inventories of Robert Sanderson (bishop's son) 1663-1667; household accounts 1681-1709; rent accounts 1826-1866; tenancy agreements 1860. Loose papers 1674-1822. Date: 1660-1866 Repository: Lincolnshire Archives [057]Date: 1660-1866 D&C/LIB/21
The household accounts 1718-1729 were those of Mrs Caudwell. She turns out to have been Susanna Sanderson, granddaughter of Bishop Sanderson, b.1679 to his son Robert Sanderson b.1630 and Mary Oxwick b.1631, baptised at South Carlton, Lincolnshire on 9th June 1769. She married William Caudwell at Pulloxhill, Bedfordshire on 17th November 1709. William Caudwell was the Vicar of Flitton cum Silso in Bedfordshire.
The Bedfordshire Archives catalogue (Reference Fasti/1/Flitt Title FLITTON (St.John the Baptist) listing the parish incumbents since time almost immemorial has the following entry:
"William Cauldwell - 17 Aug 1686 [B.A.; on death of William Harris; Patron the Bishop, by lapse. Married Mrs Sanderson at Pulloxhill on 17 Nov 1709 and was buried 21 Jul 1722]"
William Caudwell's will (National Archives' reference PROB 11/587/249), proved 16 October 1722, apart from a small bequest to the poor of Flitton cum Silso, left two closes of land in Coventry and everything else to his wife Susannah. The will of Susanna (sic), (National Archives' reference PROB 11/659/144), proved 9 May 1733, by her sister Jane Clarke left £20 each to sundry nieces and nephews and the residue to said sister Jane.
The parish of Flitton cum Silso(e) is in Bedfordshire, which until 1837, was perhaps improbably, part of the Diocese of Lincoln. There must lie the explanation for how the Bishop's granddaughter laid her hands upon a volume, later in the Cathedral Library, which had for 55 years contained her grandfather the Bishop's inventory, which she recycled as her household account book.
Turning to her grandfather, Izaak Walton's The Life of Dr. Robert Sanderson may be found here. A graduate of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1631 he was appointed Chaplain to King Charles I, who is alleged to have said: "I carry my ears to hear other preachers; but I carry my conscience to hear Mr. Sanderson, and to act accordingly." During the Commonwealth he was seized and carried prisoner to Lincoln and was for some years in straitened circumstances. At the Restoration he presented an address of congratulation from the clergy of Lincoln on 23rd July 1660. The following month he was retstored to the Regius Professorship of Divinity in the University of Oxford from which he had been removed by the Parliamentarians in 1648. He was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln on 28 October 1660 and died on 29th January 1663.
Upon his death, as was routine, an inventory of his dwelling was taken, room by room and a value placed on each item. This list accounts for one of the wealthiest premises in the county and as such is of great interest to the furniture historian. Extracts relating to seating are as follows:
"An inventary of the goods and chattells of the late Reverend Robert Lord Bishop of Lincoln deceased who dyed the 29th day of January 1663
Imperiis
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| in ye little Parlor and withdrawing rooms thereunto adjoyning.[...] |
£
|
s
|
d
|
| +10 turkey chayres +a(?) |
009
|
:00
|
:00
|
| + 1 turky Couch |
004
|
:06
|
:00
|
| [...] | |||
| In ye Greate Parlor and rooms adjoyning | |||
| [...] | |||
| 12: Cushoons |
00
|
:10
|
:00
|
| 6: Lether Stooles and 2 Chayres |
00
|
:12
|
:00
|
| 6: ould turkey Ch: and Stooles |
00
|
:12
|
:00
|
| 2: chayres wth flagg botts |
00
|
:02
|
:06
|
| 1: little childs chayre |
00
|
:02
|
:00
|
| 12: joyned stooles |
00
|
:10
|
:00
|
| [...] | |||
| In the Greate Roome | |||
| [...] | |||
| 1: woodden chayre |
00
|
:01
|
:06
|
| [...] | |||
| In the Hall Chamber | |||
| [...] | |||
| 1: grt: chayre 4: lesser 2: stooles |
02
|
:00
|
:00
|
| [...] | |||
| In the Bps Chamber | |||
| [...] | |||
| 1: grt: cha 3: lesser 2: stooles |
01
|
:10
|
:00
|
| [...] | |||
| 2: chayres |
00
|
:03
|
:00
|
| [...] | |||
| In the Chaplaines chamber | |||
| [...] | |||
| 2: chayres wth flagg bottoms |
00
|
:02
|
:00
|
[...]"
The most valuable seating was the turkey work chairs. A glossary of the terms used in late 17th century Lincoln inventories may be found in this post. Bishop Sanderson's inventory however uses a term that does not appear there: flagg bottoms. The Oxford English Dictionary sheds light:
"Flagg — or Flag, one of various endogenous plants, with a bladed or ensiform leaf, mostly growing in moist places. Now regarded as properly denoting a member of the genus Iris (esp. I. pseudacorus) but sometimes (as in early use) applied to any reed or rush — OED (1989)."
There is no doubt, therefore, that Bishop Sanderson's appraisers were referring to rush seated or matted chairs but to my recollection, this is the first time that either I or William Sergeant have come across this expression.
It has long been assumed that rush-seated chairs were produced for the less well off in society but here is clear evidence to suggest otherwise: some at least found their way to the Bishop's Palace.
An internet search reveals one or two 18th century American inventories containing references to flagg-bottomed chairs. An examination of the British Newspaper Archive reveals 4 references to flag-bottomed chairs in 1773, 1802 twice, and 1848. The last is a short story from the Newry Telegraph of 15 February 1848 called 'The Sleigh Ride' which contains the following passage: "Mother, these flag-bottoms are very unfashionable. I really cannot bear the sight of them. Why, everybody has mahogany chairs now-a-days. I wish you could see uncle’s!” and uncle’s chairs were so often alluded to, that "old flag-bottom” from that time forth became the cognomen of a parlor chair." Furniture historians may make of that what they will!
© Julian Parker 2020
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