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 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

Unstamped comb back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair; curved cresting rail with turned stiles morticed into the arm bow, turned underarm supports, 9 long spindles, 2 x 4 underarm spindles, ring & cove front leg turning with lower ring & plain back legs, H stretcher with darts, attributed to William Taylor

attributed to William Taylor Lincolnshire comb back WS 180

Comb back windsor armchairs are so distinctive and peculiar to Lincolnshire. They are not easy to find as few have ever come onto the market; they were made by MARSH (SLEAFORD) and CAMM & G.WILSON ( GRANTHAM).  So when I spotted this one for sale at an auction house near Manchester I was intrigued as I did not recognise the maker. I purchased the chair, thanks to being able to bid over the internet even though I had not viewed before the auction. I was not disappointed when I collected it, the chair was in good order, unsigned and every component made from ashwood.

It was not till I got it home that I was able to work out who had made it. The underarm supports were so similar to the ones on the TAYLORS signed chair in picture No 167 and both chairs had the same finish applied, a sort of dark varnish. But the telling detail was 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 I was in no doubt which workshop this came out of: William Taylor. Moreover, I am able to precisely date this chair as he was only working between 1811 and October 1815. Which makes this chair over 200 hundred years old.

© William Sergeant 2020

William Taylor of Grantham high bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair with 3-piercing fleur de lys and pierced urn upper splat, single pierced lower splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarm supports, H stretcher with darts, ring & cove turning w lower ring, plain back, bell shaped seat sides

WS 126 TAYLORS GRANTHAM

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 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 to the one that I had expected. There are chairs on this site signed by Taylor - see No 80 - but this name clearly has an " S " on the end. There is a picture of a chair by this maker in Dr B D Cotton’s The English Regional Chair (1990) at p. 118 and the maker is William Taylor.  He 
made a remarkable claim in the Stamford Mercury on 25 June 1813:

"WILLIAM TAYLOR, the Original Windsor Chair-maker, No.11, WESTGATE, GRANTHAM returns thanks for the very liberal encouragement he has for several years experienced at Stow Green Fair, and informs his friends and the public in general, he will have an assortment of Yew and other Windsor Chairs at the above fair, on the 2d and 3d of July, when orders will be thankfully received. Observe, none are his make but those marked "Taylor's, Grantham," on the seat. Turning executed to order, all sorts of spinning wheels made and repaired, screws cut for benches, cheese and other presses, on the shortest notice."

This is an incredible statement to publish in a public newspaper; it implies that he was the first person to make these chairs in the area and for the public to beware of lookalike copies. 

WS 127 TAYLORS GRANTHAM seat stamp

Another TAYLORS chair may be found here.

© William Sergeant 2020

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.
. 

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

William Taylor, Grantham medium bow back Lincolnshire Windsor armchair, with 3-piercing fleur de lys above teardrop piercing, single pierced lower teardrop, bell seat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarm, ring & cove front leg turning, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts

On 25 June 1813 an intriguing advertisement appeared in the Lincolnshire, Rutland and Stamford Mercury:

© British Library Board

"WILLIAM TAYLOR, the Original Windsor Chair-maker, No.11, WESTGATE, GRANTHAM returns thanks for the very liberal encouragement he has for several years experienced at Stow Green Fair, and informs his friends and the public in general, he will have an assortment of Yew and other Windsor Chairs at the above fair, on the 2d and 3d of July, when orders will be thankfully received. Observe, none are his make but those marked "Taylor's, Grantham," on the seat. Turning executed to order, all sorts of spinning wheels made and repaired, screws cut for benches, cheese and other presses, on the shortest notice."

This is the the very first indication of how a Grantham chair maker was able to show his chairs to the public. 

WS 167 Taylors Grantham 

When I first read this I assumed William Taylor was referring to the Stow village which is about 10 miles north of Lincoln but on further investigation I discovered a fascinating event much closer to Grantham. 

The village of Stow no longer exists but is marked by a plaque in a corner of a field about  one mile south of Threekingham, 8 miles south of Sleaford and ten miles east of Grantham. In the 18th & 19th centuries the grass area around Stow was turned into a small town as it had a licence for a annual market which was granted in the 13th century. The picture above shows part of the grass field (which has a preservation order on it) where this huge fair was held. On the sky line is the spire of Threekingham church . The chair in the picture is signed TAYLORS GRANTHAM and there is the intriguing possibility that this very chair was taken to this very spot over 200 years ago to be sold by William Taylor. Ponder this thought as well: would he have seen Thomas Marsh of Sleaford and Richard Hubbard of Grantham at the fair trying to sell their chairs as well? For more information on this fair please click on the following link. 

WS 167 Taylors Grantham with 2 friends, WS 123 T Simpson, Boston on the right and WS 29 Marsh of Sleaford on the left

William Taylor was baptised in Grantham in 1785. His father was Roger Taylor and it was his father who placed an advert in the Stamford Mercury dated 9 July 1800 wanting a journeyman Windsor chair maker. So William, the second son, was born into a family of chairmakers. It's slightly surprising that he then was apprenticed to a joiner in 1799 , when he was 14. His father Roger was buried in Grantham in 1801 but his wife Sophia continued to run the chairmaking business, advertising for journeymen and apprentices. 

The advertisement says that he had been selling Windsor chairs for several years prior to 1813, when William would have been 28 years old; however it's not clear if he was running his parents business. His claim of being the Original Windsor chairmaker (in the area) is of interest. He may well be using the fact that his father's business was probably the first to introduce Windsor chairmaking to Grantham.

Finally, William warns the public that only chairs marked with his name, TAYLOR'S , are made by him and implies that someone else is trying to sell very similar chairs on the back of his reputation. Well, I think I know who was trying to do this, but that will be another posting on this site.

© William Sergeant 2019