Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair stamped TAYLORS GRANTHAM with fleur de lys splat and 3 teardrop piercings with 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarm supports bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 126

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair with fleur de lys splat and 3 teardrop piercings with 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarm supports bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 126

This chair appeared online at an East Midlands auction in May 2014. The picture was of good quality and it took no time to realise that it was an early Lincolnshire chair. It had obviously been reduced in height but everything looked original. I was not able to get to the viewing so followed the auction on the internet; I was convinced that I knew who the maker was. When the lot came up there was very little interest and soon the chair was knocked down to me for not very much. A couple of days later I travelled over to collect the chair and had the chance to view it for the first time. It was my lucky day! Not only was it in good condition but the maker was clearly stamped on the seat; either the auctioneer had failed to see the impressed name or he saw no reason to mention it in the sale description. But what totally amazed me was it had been made by a different maker in a different town from the one that I had expected. TAYLORS GRANTHAM means that the chair was made in the workshop of William Taylor, whose remarkable 1813 advertisement in the Stamford Mercury is discussed here.

WS 127 - TAYLORS GRANTHAM stamp on WS 126

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