Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair stamped TAYLORS with quatrefoil and fleur de lys splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 194

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair stamped TAYLORS with quatrefoil and fleur de lys splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 194

A long time ago, a fellow collector of Lincolnshire Windsor chairs had mentioned to me that he had a couple of stamped Taylor chairs in his collection. I had never seen them and wasn't overly interested as I have my own chairs signed by the same maker. However, on a recent visit to his house, I noticed this chair above - I knew that it was made by William Taylor who signed his chairs TAYLORS. I commented that this must be a new addition, whereon he replied that he had told me about it years ago. I had misinterpreted what he had said; I thought he meant Taylor not TAYLORS! The difference is subtle but so important.

I know that William Taylor signed chairs from his workshop as he states the same in an advert in the Stamford Mercury- WS 166 here - and that his signed chairs are very rare. My research has revealed that he left the security of his mother's workshop in December 1811 to set up his own business; at the same time he took on the apprentice William Shirley senior who was halfway through his 7-year tuition having started it under John Taylor.

This chair encapsulates so many features regarding my research. With the help of Chris Goodwin, who is a descendant of the Taylors of Grantham, I can reveal that William Taylor gave up chairmaking on the 7th October 1815 to work for the Post Office as a mail coach guard, something he did for the next 30 years. This means that this chair can be precisely dated to the 4 years before Oct 1815. The implications of this are profound - no other writer on this subject has been able to confirm when the backsplat and H stretcher were introduced into the design of Lincolnshire chairs but this is firm date evidence.

The chair itself is made entirely out of ash wood, having a thick seat and of robust construction, weighing in at an impressive 15 pounds - this chair was made to last. The backsplat has a particularly pleasing design motif. The seat is flared towards the front to give more room to the front legs which leads to an elegant well-balanced design.

But the most outstanding discovery for me was that this collector had been lucky to purchase two of these chairs, in the same lot, from an auction house in Cumbria.

© William Sergeant 2018 and 2020