2 x Lincolnshire and a Beverley Windsor side chair, with curved crest rails, turned stiles, 6 , 7 and 5 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretchers, 2 with darts WS 124

2 x Lincolnshire and a Beverley Windsor side chair, with curved crest rails, turned stiles, 6 , 7 and 5 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretchers, 2 with darts WS 124

Take a good look at the three chairs above. Many of you will recognise the right-hand chair as a splendidly crafted chair from Sleaford and stamped by Marsh, with 5 spindles across the back. The left-hand unstamped chair is of a similar date and is what you may expect to have been made in Grantham, with 6 spindles across the back. Now study the middle chair: it is such a mystery!

I happened across this chair at the Newark Antique fair at the beginning of April 2014. From a distance it was instantly recognisable as a Lincolnshire side chair but on closer inspection there were many aspects that I had not seen before. The row of 7 spindles was a first for me and the design turnery of the two outside spindles (stiles) is quite different from anything previously recorded . The elm seat is wider and deeper than the standard small seat you would expect and although the chair had been well used it is quite evident it was made by a very competent workshop. It appears to have been reduced in height in the past (hence the ramekin plinths!) and the seat has twisted to give a slightly distorted appearance.

I quizzed the dealer as to the history of this chair and was told that it came from a house clearance in Beverley, Yorkshire, East Riding. It was then that I remembered that I had spoken to the same person last year when he had 3 other chairs of the same design. Foolishly I had not photographed them and he told me they had been purchased by an American dealer, so there is little chance of ever seeing those again. I secured the purchase of this single chair so I could record it here, calling it a Beverley chair for want of a better name or until I discover who made it. The dealer also told me that he had had other similar chairs through his business in the past . Any other information on this design would be welcome: it may well be that there is a previously unrecorded maker from the East Riding of Yorkshire who was responsible for these lookalike Lincolnshire side chairs.

© William Sergeant 2014 and 2020