A Lincolnshire comb back Windsor armchair, with turned stiles, 7 long spindles, 6 short, straight seat sides, turned front legs with ball turning and lower ring, plain back legs, and H stretcher, possibly by James Taylor of Stamford

A Lincolnshire comb back in Kettle's Yard in Cambridge with notes provided by William Sergeant.

A Lincolnshire comb back Windsor armchair, with turned stiles, 7 long spindles, 6 short, straight seat sides, turned front legs with ball turning and lower ring, plain back legs, and H stretcher, possibly by James Taylor of Stamford

Unstamped hoop back Lincolnshire Windsor side chair with 6 long spindles, straight sided seat, ball turned front legs with vase shaped feet, plain back legs, H stretcher

WS 146 Unstamped hoop back Lincolnshire Windsor side chair

This chair was one of several Lincs side chairs that I was lucky enough to acquire out of a farmhouse near Boston. They had been there for almost 40 years and were originally brought from a dealer in Bourne. Please take a moment to study the ball turnings with vase feet on the front legs; not at all typical for a Lincolnshire side chair. However, for those of you who study Dr B D Cotton’s The English Regional Chair (1990) you may be familiar with them as there are several the same in it . Just take a moment to glance at NE 117 p.136, NE 97 p.132, and NE 71 p.127. Then turn your attention to NE 147 p.140 , NE 155 p.142 and NE 116 p.135. All remarkably like the turnings above but none with a makers name on them - so I wonder which workshop they came out of? Until one is found with a maker's stamp on it, I am open to suggestions; my money was once on the brothers George and Edward Akrill from Grantham, but there may now be other indications as discussed at No 162. This chair is entirely compatible with other Grantham side chairs having been made from ash except for the seat which Adam Bowett pointed out to me is made out of beech.

© William Sergeant 2019

Unstamped comb back Lincolnshire Windsor side chair with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 6 long spindles, straight sided seat, ball turned front legs with vase shaped feet, plain back legs, H stretcher

WS 162 comb back Lincolnshire Windsor side chair 

One of a set of three identical comb back side chairs. The design of these chairs fits exactly the tradition of Lincolnshire side chairs though it is without any identifying marks. The plain back legs and top comb uniting the back supports is emblematic. I don't know the name of the maker but these front legs are so distinctive and the chair No 146 must have come from the same workshop. Originally offered for sale at Bateman's auction house in Stamford, Lincolnshire in early 2015; constructed with an elm seat and back comb, the rest is mainly ash but like No 146 there is some use of beech.
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Intriguingly , written on the underside of the seat in flowing Victorian hand of pencil it says "Mrs Waldin - Easton". Now the hamlet of Easton is mentioned in White's Directory of Lincolnshire in 1872 as containing 188 souls along with a "dame" school supported by Lady Georgiana Cholmeley. The schoolmistress is called Hannah Walton. She appears in the 1871 census living at Newton Lodge, Easton, occupation schoolmistress. If you are wondering where this village is: it's half way between Grantham and Stamford.

Who made chairs in Stamford between 1844 and his death in 1875? James Taylor (1815-1875) later assisted by his two sons, William Taylor junior (1838-1902) and James Waite Taylor (1841- 1893).  Who was James Taylor? Son of John Taylor (1782- aft. 1841), grandson of Roger (1763-1801) and Sophia Taylor (1761-1841), nephew of William Taylor (1784-1864), all Windsor chair makers of Grantham.

In my comments on No 146 I draw attention to its similarity to six chairs in Dr Cotton's book. They all have the same ball turnings and vase feet as the side chair in this post. The last of the six, NE 116 p.135, as Dr Cotton observes, also has turned outer uprights (or stiles) very similar to the Taylor stamped chair at NE 109 p.134, a stamped chair identical to which appears on this site as No 18.  I suspect that the Taylor family may be the key to working out the most likely makers of these ball-turned chairs.

© William Sergeant 2015 with additional material by Julian Parker 2019

22

Windsor side chair with comb back support, unsigned.

23

Windsor armchair with comb back support, unsigned. The chair in the exhibition is the middle chair in this picture.

The last four chairs have one thing in common, namely the distinctive front leg design, and so were probably made in the same workshop. They usually appear in the auction houses in Stamford or in the south of the county. I would attribute them to the workshop of James Taylor of Stamford.