Lincolnshire comb back armchair by Marsh Sleaford, with curved crest rail, with 8 long spindles, the outer of which are turned stiles above the arm bow, which is chamfered at its ends, 6 short spindles, turned underarms, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 208

Lincolnshire comb back armchair by Marsh Sleaford, with curved crest rail, with 8 long spindles, the outer of which are turned stiles above the arm bow, which is chamfered at its ends, 6 short spindles, turned underarms straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 208

This comb back Lincolnshire armchair is from the wonderful collection of former Regional Furniture Society member, James Drake. I was delighted when he said that I could include it here, as it's so important and you all will be able to appreciate it. It has an impressed name stamp towards the rear of the upper surface of the seat which reads MARSH, so from the workshop of father and son, Thomas and James Marsh of Sleaford. The legs and underarm turned supports are typical of their patterns but the chair is of overall compact proportions, the like of which I have never seen before. The particular pleasing feature are the two outside long back support spindles (stiles), which start at the seat level and pass through the armbow the continue with the decorative turning up to the back comb, an elegant touch. This could easily become my favorite Lincolnshire armchair.

© William Sergeant 2019

Lincolnshire low bow back Windsor armchair, probably Hubbard Grantham, with 5-piercing fleur de lys and teardrop piercing splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, straight seat edges, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 201

Lincolnshire low bow back Windsor armchair, probably Hubbard Grantham, with 5-piercing fleur de lys and teardrop piercing splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, straight seat edges, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 201

The low profile of the back bow gives this chair a distinctive squat appearance, like no other Lincolnshire chair that I can think of. I knew that they existed as a signed pair are illustrated in published works on vernacular furniture but I had been waiting for years for one to appear on the open market so that I could add it to my collection. It was offered for sale in a Shropshire sale room, with a good description and photos, so I bid with confidence and secured its purchase. After a couple of months the chair was delivered to my home and I was delighted with the overall condition. The seat is of elm, while all other components are made from yew wood with the back legs of ash; a typical combination that is so often found in Lincolnshire best chairs. It has one feature that is so rare on chairs made in the county, that is the incised scratch mark around the edge of the back bow.

This chair is not stamped by the workshop owner but the two that appear in Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990) at figures NE24 and NE25 on p. 118 were stamped clearly HUBBARD GRANTHAM, so I am in no doubt that this chair was produced in the workshop of Richard Hubbard of Little Gonerby about 1807 - 1820.

© William Sergeant 2019

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, Marsh of Sleaford, with 7 long spindles, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 106

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, Marsh of Sleaford, with 7 long spindles, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 106

See chair WS 92 - I just knew that I would find one of these chairs with a stamp of the maker on it . This one turned up on eBay along with 3 other chairs at the very northern edge of the county of Lincolnshire. I won the bidding and was delighted to find on collection that this one was clearly stamped MARSH SLEAFORD. A bit of polishing restored this fine chair to its full glory.

© William Sergeant 2018 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, probably by Marsh of Sleaford, with 7 long spindles, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 92

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, probably by Marsh of Sleaford, with 7 long spindles, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 92

This chair was consigned to a regular house clearance sale in Grantham and didn't even get considered for the better antiques sale.  Although there is no maker's stamp to be found on it, there are however tell-tale signs all over it which makes me believe that it was made by Thomas or James Marsh in Sleaford. There are a whole load of features that they used: darts at the either end of the cross stretcher; scratch markers on the side stretchers for the drilling of holes; thicker front leg ; thicker seats which sweep out at the front; carefully selected wood for the legs with no wild grain; tiny square sprigs driven into the back of the bow to secure the middle and two outside back spindles and finally the distance between the upper and lower rings on the front legs are always identical. Everything about their chairs was just that bit better than anything produced in the neighbouring town of Grantham. PS: after a recent visit from Bill Cotton, I can confirm what I had thought for a while: that the seats of Marsh chairs are usually made out of ash wood, as is the case here.

© William Sergeant 2018 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, with 3-piercing fleur de lys and teardrop piercing splat, 4 long spindles, straight seat sides, ball and cove front leg turning with 1 lower ring and vase-shaped feet, 2 ring back leg turning with vase-shaped feet, H stretcher with darts WS 122

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, with 3-piercing fleur de lys and teardrop piercing splat, 4 long spindles, straight seat sides, ball and cove front leg turning with 1 lower ring and vase-shaped feet, 2 ring back leg turning with vase-shaped feet, H stretcher with darts WS 122

This chair was part of the estate of an antique dealer that was offered for sale at the auction house in Grantham in early 2014. Description : the seat is made from ash as are the back legs. The front legs, stretchers and back support are all made from yew wood. All parts appear contemporary with each other and there is no sign of alteration.

There is no maker's stamp but much of this chair design would point to it having been made in Grantham. However the back legs are typical of what would be expected as front legs on a Grantham side chair; just compare with the front legs on WS 96, WS 49 & WS 17. The back hoop, spindles and splat are very similar to a chair which appears at figure NE41 on p. 121 of Der B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990), which is stamped Taylor Grantham. The real enigma is the design of the front legs with their large ball and small cove turnery, the like of which can be seen on WS 72, a chair stamped by Shirley.

© William Sergeant 2018 and 2020

.

3 x Lincolnshire comb back Windsor side chairs with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 3-piercing fleur de lys and teardrop piercing splat, 4 long sticks, straight seat sides, 2 ring front leg turnings with vase-shaped feet, plain back leg turnings with vase feet, H stretcher WS 49

3 x Lincolnshire comb back Windsor side chairs with curved crest rail, 3-piercing fleur de lys and teardrop piercing splat, 4 long sticks, straight seat sides, 2 ring front leg turnings with vase-shaped feet, plain back leg turnings with vase feet, H stretcher WS 49

A set of three Lincolnshire comb back side chairs, probably made in Grantham or possibly Stamford. 

© William Sergeant 2011 and 2020

Medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor spindle back armchair stamped AMOS GRANTHAM, with 9 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings, with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 190 & WS 189

Medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor spindle back armchair stamped AMOS GRANTHAM, with 9 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings, with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 190

This is a typical early Lincolnshire windsor armchair. Plain back legs with the front ones having the design of a thin ring above an exaggerated shallow cove, an all-spindle back support and curved underarm supports. This one has an ash seat with yew for the other components. I believe that this is the very essence of a chair that was made in the first period of Windsor chairmaking in the county, namely 1800-1812. 

The name stamp on the edge of the seat is AMOS GRANTHAM, so we know exactly in whose workshop it was made. It came from a house just outside Newark and it had been in the family for many years. It was in a slightly distressed state when I brought it at auction but I got a restorer to make it usable again.

John Amos was a wheelwright and as such ran a business for the first 15 years of his working life making wagons and carts for farmers and merchants as well as servicing ones that were already in use. It was not until 1809 that the first advert by him was posted in the paper searching for journeymen chairmakers. All of the chairs that I have seen from his workshop are of the second period type, which I believe started to be produced in about 1812 but I was not surprised to seen this design by him. This leads me to think that this chair was probably made in the first 3 years of his manufacture, namely 1809-1812.

Bench holdfast marks on medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor spindle back armchair WS 190 stamped AMOS GRANTHAM WS 189

This picture shows part of the underside of the armbow of this AMOS chair. You can see quite clearly the small areas of cross-hatching that are impressed into the surface of the wood. This was caused by bench holdfasts. These have been used by woodworkers since ancient times and are used, as their name suggests, to hold a piece of wood firmly to the workbench. They are the shape of a swan's neck, with the neck part slipped down a hole in the bench and the crooked head part tapped with a mallet to spread the bend and hold the wood secure. They can easily be released with a sideways tap. 

For the holdfast to grip the wood better, there is cross-hatching filed into the end. This is what has left the marks above. The length of yew wood would be soften in the steam box and the placed against the profile form that it is to be moulded around and once bent, it is held firmly in place while it cools by a series of holdfasts. 

© William Sergeant 2017 and 2020

Medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped BRAND SLEAFORD with 9 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarms supports, bell-shaped seat, 2 ring and cove legs with 2 lower rings, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher, WS 192/199

Medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped BRAND SLEAFORD with 9 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarms supports, bell-shaped seat, 2 ring and cove legs with 2 lower rings, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher, WS 192/199

At first glance this is a typical Lincolnshire spindle back Windsor armchair. It is stamped BRAND SLEAFORD. The solid thick seat is fashioned from elm, the front legs are made out of cherry and the back legs turned from ash. Every other component is made from yew wood. What makes this chair slightly unusual is the turnery design to the front legs - the element of added decoration. There is a double ring turning above the cove and towards the base of the leg the turnery design is a double ring again. This striking feature is almost identical to the Shirley chair in WS 198.

Chairs by this maker are very rare. This one is the first that I have handled after many years of searching and I was pleased to add it to my collection. I had come across John Brand before - see WS 163 and 164. That chair with the seat stamped BRAND and MARSH proves that they must have been working together for a while.

The tradition of chair making in Sleaford has three names which standout and often appear in the directories and censuses, namely MARSH, BRAND and MASON. While many MARSH stamped chairs have been recorded, very few BRAND stamped chairs appear on the market and not one single chair stamped with MASON has ever been found.  After many years of searching, I was so pleased to find this BRAND chair advertised on the internet by a dealer in the south of the county. We agreed on a price and as he was about to visit the Newark Fair, he offered to deliver it as well.

© William Sergeant 2017 and 2020

Medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped SHIRLEY GRANTHAM with 3-piercing fleur de lys upper splat, teardrop pierced lower splat 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarms supports, bell-shaped seat, 2 ring and cove legs with 2 lower rings x 4, H stretcher with darts WS 198

Medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped SHIRLEY GRANTHAM with 3-piercing fleur de lys upper splat, teardrop pierced lower splat 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarms supports, bell-shaped seat, 2 ring and cove legs with 2 lower rings x 4, H stretcher with darts WS 198

Signed chairs by William Shirley senior are so rare that in all the years that I have been searching for Lincolnshire chairs, this is the very first signed armchair that I have ever come across.  When it appeared at the local sale room in Grantham in June 2017, I decided that it should join my collection. You may have noticed that a side chair already exists on this blog, WS 84, and I have another signed SHIRLEY side chair in my collection which is remarkably similar to it. Beside those three, very few have been recorded. There's an armchair in the Geffrye Museum and I know of a couple more. The side chair at figure NE 53 at p. 123 Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990) may be an example but is merely stamped SHIRLEY. This minimal number of stamped Shirley Grantham chairs strikes me as slightly odd as he was a chair maker for some considerable time in Grantham.

William learnt his trade in the workshop of the Taylors, first with John during the years 1808-1811 and then with his younger brother William during the years 1811-1815 after which he became Freeman of Grantham. He advertises in the Stamford Mercury in April 1818, seeking an apprentice and a dish turner. He describes himself as a Turner, Windsor and Fancy and Spinning wheel maker of Westgate Grantham. He places a similar advert in June 1819, giving his address as No. 11 Westgate Grantham. This is of significance as it is the same address as William Taylor used when he advertised in the same paper in Dec 1811, which would indicate that he had moved into the premises once occupied by his second master. He marries in 1816 and at the birth of his son Frederick in 1824, he is described as a chairmaker of Southwark. Also, at the birth of his son George in 1828 he is noted as being a chairmaker of Old Kent Road. He advertises twice in 1834 using the address of Westgate Grantham again.

The chair pictured above is typical of a good quality Lincolnshire chair with underarm support pattern that is used by so many makers. The interesting feature is the design motif for the front legs, it has an extra ring above the usual ring and cove decoration as well as an extra lower ring. I wonder if this a nod to the Victorian trait of incorporating more detail into their furniture and getting away from the classical lines of the Georgian period? The middle parts of the H stretcher are fatter than many Grantham examples.

The seat and the stamp may be admired below.

Fine elm seat of medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped SHIRLEY GRANTHAM WS 198

 SHIRLEY GRANTHAM stamp on upper rear of seat of WS 198

© William Sergeant 2017

Thomas Simpson, Boston stamped high bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair with 5-piercing fleur de lys upper splat, double pierced lower splat, crook underarm supports, 2 x 3 long spindles, 2 x 3 underarm spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings & plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 207

Thomas Simpson, Boston stamped high bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair with 5-piercing fleur de lys upper splat, double pierced lower splat, crook underarm supports, 2 x 3 long spindles, 2 x 3 underarm spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with lower ring & plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 207

Another chair from the collection of James Drake, this time a yew wood chair with reduced legs, but stamped clearly on the edge of the seat: T SIMPSON & Co BOSTON. There is another Simpson Windsor armchair at WS 123, and if you compare the back splat of both, I think that you would agree with me that both were made from the same master pattern, with the main difference being that this chair has a crinoline stretcher whereas WS 123 has an H stretcher with darts.

© William Sergeant 2020

Medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped TAYLOR GRANTHAM, turned underarm supports, 8 long spindles, 2 x 3 underarm spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with single lower ring & plain back legs, H stretcher with cross stretcher turned with darts WS 85

Medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair stamped TAYLOR GRANTHAM, turned underarm supports, 9 long spindles, 2 x 4 underarm spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with single lower ring & plain back legs, H stretcher with cross stretcher turned with darts WS 85

I happen to find this one at the Newark Antiques Fair and I was convinced it was made by Marsh of Sleaford but on close inspection there is a faint stamp on the rear of the seat which says TAYLOR GRANTHAM. Fortunately no one had noticed this maker's mark and it joined my collection for a very small fee. The underarm turnings are so similar to Marsh of Sleaford that only when they are stood next to each other can you spot the differences. Compare this chair with WS 29 and you will see what I mean.

Other differences are that Taylor has 8 long spindles and 6 short, whereas Marsh uses 9 long and 8 short; Marsh puts a slight chamfer on the underside of the end of the arm bow, absent from the Taylor chair. The ring on the front legs of the Taylor chair is slightly deeper than that on the Marsh.

© William Sergeant 2018 and Julian Parker 2020 

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair, stamped I * TAYLOR GRANTHAM with 9 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove turned front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 211

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair, stamped I * TAYLOR GRANTHAM with 9 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove turned front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 211

Regular students of Lincolnshire Windsor chairs will have seen the image of this chair before. It is simply remarkable. It appears on p. 138 of Thomas Crispin's The English Windsor Chair (1992) and again in Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990) at figure NE12 on p. 113. Both books show the name stamp of I*TAYLOR which relates to the eldest son of Roger and Sophia Taylor, one John Taylor. Those of you who have seen my lecture at Conway Hall on Youtube will know that he made chairs for only three years, from February 1808 until January 1811, after which he became a mail coach guard for 31 years. The only other recorded I*TAYLOR stamped chair passed through the now closed auction room of Neale's of Nottingham in 2002. 

Detail of upper rear of seat of Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair, stamped I * TAYLOR GRANTHAM

WS 204 on the left, WS 211 on the right

You may also wish to compare this chair to yesterday's post WS 204, which has no makers mark, but I am sure both were made by the same hand.

The extraordinary fact is that this chair appeared on eBay recently and was spotted by a fellow enthusiast (one Julian Parker) who kindly notified me. The young lady in London selling the chair had seen the name stamp but had been unable to decipher the name. She had acquired the chair off Greenwich market at least 15 years before, besides that there was no other provenance.

© William Sergeant and Julian Parker 2020

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair, with 9 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove turned front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 204

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair, with 9 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove turned front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 204

My attention was drawn to this chair, that was advertised on Instagram, by my fellow furniture enthusiast Tim Garland. From the image by the vendor, it was obvious that it was in poor condition with some serious structural issues - also it was said to be possibly from Welsh borders. I recognised it as a typical early spindle back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair, dating from about 1815. There was no indication whether it was marked by the workshop owner. After having completing the deal, the chair duly arrived and the breakages were even worse than I had initially thought, but no matter, as it was soon in the capable hands of Tim. He repaired and restored the chair and the result can be seen in the picture above. He made a splendid job, and we both felt a deep sense of satisfaction of having rescued a valuable historical piece of vernacular furniture.

The maker of this chair remained a mystery to me, but as you may have heard me say before, the maker always leaves his finger prints all over his chairs, if you just know where to look. The give away was the incised ring around the back legs to indicate where the hole needed to be drilled to take the side stretcher. The only signed chairs, that have this feature, are those that are signed TAYLORS, so those made in the workshop of William Taylor. There remains the possibility that those made in his brother's workshop (John), could have the same implicit mark but as I had never handled one, and am most unlikely ever to find one, so the final identity of the marker remains uncertain.

© William Sergeant 2019

2 x Lincolnshire underarm turnings compared - the turnery signature is clear WS 181

This picture shows the underarm supports of the unstamped bar back chair in WS 180 on the right and the underarm support of the stamped TAYLORS bow back in WS 167 on the left. The underarm supports are so similar and both chairs had the same finish applied, a sort of dark varnish. But the telling detail is 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 there is no doubt which workshop both these chairs came out of: William Taylor, Grantham.

© William Sergeant 2017 and 2020

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back armchair, with 4 domed ladders with downward shaping, straight back poles with tapered feet and flattened top finials, rushing bars, turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, with pad feet, front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double side and rear stretchers WS 121

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back armchair, with 4 domed ladders with downward shaping, straight back poles with tapered feet, and flattened top finials, rushing bars, turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, with pad feet, front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double side and rear stretchers WS 121

This chair was offered for sale at a south Lincolnshire auction house along with 4 side chairs. It's made out of ash with fruitwood arms. The rush seat has been repaired in a very poor manner and there is some loss of height due to wear on the legs . However these carvers are very rare and so I was particularly pleased to collect this one along with the 4 side chairs that went with it. Once again there are metal pins to secure the ladders to the uprights and scribe marks to aid construction, just as in the 3 chairs in WS 120; I am in no doubt that they are came from the same workshop.

© William Sergeant 2018

Lincolnshire Windsor bow back medium armchair stamped TAYLORS GRANTHAM with 3 piercing fleur de lys upper splat, teardrop pierced lower splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarm supports, bell-shaped seat, with cut-and-shut Nottinghamshire 3 ring leg turnings with vase-shaped feet and crinoline stretcher WS 206

Lincolnshire Windsor bow back medium armchair stamped TAYLORS GRANTHAM with 3 piercing fleur de lys upper splat, teardrop pierced lower splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarm supports, bell-shaped seat, with cut-and-shut Nottinghamshire 3 ring leg turnings with vase-shaped feet and crinoline stretcher WS 206

Thanks to former Regional Furniture Society member, James Drake, for allowing me to record and publish an image of this chair, stamped TAYLORS GRANTHAM. I would ask you to study the picture of this chair closely. It certainly took me by surprise: there is something clearly wrong with it. The legs, with the three ring turning motif are not something that I would associate with an early Lincolnshire Windsor armchair, and sure enough, on close inspection it soon became obvious that legs belong to another chair, probably from Nottinghamshire. There has been some serious damage to this chair as the underneath of the seat shows, while the legs are quite a different colour to the rest of the chair. It's a splendid example of a 'cut and shut' chair! However, I am sure the seat and every component above are by William Taylor's workshop in Grantham, as the name stamp would indicate.

© William Sergeant 2019

Unusual Lincolnshire ladder back rush-seated side chair with 4 domed ladders with downward shaping, straight back poles, rushing bars, turned front legs morticed into the seat, two opposed-pear front stretcher almost never found in Lincolnshire, double side and rear stretchers WS 185

Unsual Lincolnshire ladder back rush-seated side chair with 4 domed ladders with downward shaping, straight back poles, rushing bars, turned front legs morticed into the seat, two opposed-pear front stretcher almost never found in Lincolnshire,  double side and rear stretchers WS 185

My talk at Spilsby in the spring of 2017 created much interest and it was during the public chair surgery the following day that I was told about this rush-seated chair that was in a church near Coningsby. When I was shown the photo that a member of the public had brought along, I was put in a quandary. The design was just so typical of a simple Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back chair, remarkably similar to the chairs that I find in the south of the county. What puzzled me was the front stretcher with its double baluster or opposing pears. When I give talks, I point out that one of the defining features of a local rush-seated chair is that the front stretcher always has a single bulb in the centre so it became evident that I needed to see this chair for myself.

A few weeks later, I took my portable photographic studio to a small village on the edge of the Wolds (which I had never visited before) and found the church open. Like so many churches in this part of remote Lincolnshire, it is not used for regular services anymore though they are often open in the daytime. I found the chair next to the pedal organ in a very dirty, dusty and uncared for state, so I set about giving it a good clean and set up my studio to record it, the result of which you can see above.

Every component is of ash wood and original, generally in very good condition as it probably never gets sat on from one year to the next. I was unable to find anyone in the village who could give me any meaningful history of the chair .

I have no doubt that it was made locally and in future I shall have to modify what are the defining features of a rush-seated chair that was produced in the county.  Yet another example of the exception which proves the rule!

© William Sergeant 2017 and 2020

East Anglian cabinetmaker's plum wood square back armchair, crest and cross rails squared with two tapered laths either side of an amphora-shaped splat, with curved rear legs, tapered front legs, board seat, curved arms morticed into ogee underarm supports, single stretcher all round WS 193

East Anglian cabinetmaker's plum wood square back armchair, crest and cross rails squared with two tapered laths either side of an amphora-shaped splat, with curved rear legs, tapered front legs, board seat, curved arms morticed into ogee underarm supports in the Hepplewhite manner, single stretcher all round WS 193

An auction house near Stamford offered this chair for sale in May 2016, there were other items of interest included in the lots so I went along to the viewing. On examining this chair, which was rightly described as fruitwood, I found it to be in very poor condition with numerous crude repairs and both back legs were completely broken at seat level. I recognised it to be a cabinet maker's chair from East Anglia and made out of plumwood. It must have looked beautiful when it was first made over 200 years ago. On the day of the auction, much against my better judgment, I decided to bid for it as I knew there was little chance of ever purchasing a plumwood chair ever again. The opening bid was for five pounds, the second bid was mine at six pounds and much to my surprise it was knocked down to me.

Well this ugly duckling turned into a fine handsome swan after I let a good friend and restorer work his magic on it. I couldn't believe the transformation - I now have a beautiful Georgian armchair, strong and stable, taking pride of place in my sitting room. A chair very similar to this one, but with two piercings through the central splat appears at figure EA11 on p. 218 of Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990).

© William Sergeant 2018 and 2020