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 Windsor side chairs by Marsh of Sleaford, with curved crest rail with turned stiles and 5 long spindles x 1, hoop back x 2 with 7 & 6 long spindles, 1 straight sided and 2 bell-shaped seats, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts x 2 H stretcher with 6 bobbin turning x 1 WS 116

3 x Lincolnshire Windsor side chairs by Marsh of Sleaford, with curved crest rail with turned stiles and 5 long spindles x 1, hoop back x 2 with 7 & 6 long spindles, 1 straight sided and 2 bell-shaped seats, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts x 2 H stretcher with 6 bobbin turning x 1 WS 116

All three chairs bear the maker's stamp on the rear of the upper seat: MARSH SLEAFORD. The middle chair is the same as WS 115. These chairs illustrate the beautiful balanced designs of side chairs that these father and son chair turners made. The earliest reference to Thomas Marsh being in Sleaford is 1810 (when his daughter Anne was baptised there) and his son James was still there making chairs in 1870 - a span of at least 60 years!

Right, I hope you are sitting comfortably as what you are about to read has never been published before: it's about Thomas Marsh. He was baptised in Bilborough, Nottinghamshire on 20th August 1779* to parents Hugh and Helen Marsh. I believe he had an older brother Joseph, who was baptised in Strelley, Notts in 1776 and another older brother Hugh who was baptised in 1771 at St. Michael's, Derby. He went on to marry in St Wulfram's, Grantham (which was quite usual for people from Little Gonerby) on 26th July 1802. His bride on that day was Helen Thompson who had been born at Londonthorpe (a tiny village about a mile northeast of Grantham) and on their marriage register they were both noted as living in Little Gonerby. At the time of their wedding Thomas was 22 and Helen 21. Their wedding must have been a slightly sad affair as his mother-in-law had died just the month before and had been buried in Grantham (as she had been a resident of Little Gonerby) on the 21st June 1802. Their union was soon blessed with a child as on 19th August 1803 James was baptised in St. Marys, Nottingham. The next reference that I found for them was at Little Gonerby again when the baptism of their daughter Jane was recorded on the 21st Feb 1808. At some stage they moved to Sleaford as they had a daughter Ann baptised on 11th July 1810 at Quarrington (which is often referred to as Old Sleaford).

This has left me wondering what he was doing living in Little Gonerby, marrying a local girl and then going back to Nottingham. It could be explained if he had gone to do an apprenticeship with a Master as there is a history of chairmakers there. He met and fell in love with Helen but as is usual, he was not allowed to marry until he had finished his time, and then went back to his former home with his new bride. The intrigue does not stop there as the marriage was witnessed by Richard Hubbard and his wife Elizabeth. Richard Hubbard was a chair maker in Grantham - it would be no great surprise if he turned out to have been Thomas Marsh's Master.

Thomas appears to have been a chair maker all his life, eventually being buried at Sleaford on 25th April 1844 at the age of 67.** James was died in September 1870.

Here is a short video on Marsh chairs.

© William Sergeant 2013 and 2020

* and ** This would indicate that he was born in 1777: the baptism at Bilborough in August 1779 is the only Thomas Marsh baptised in the vicinity of Nottingham at around the relevant time.

3 x Lincolnshire Windsor chairs by Marsh of Sleaford, one high back bow back, one hoop back side chair, and one medium bow back, with 9, 7 and 9 long spindles, bell shaped seats, turned underarms x 2, ring and cove turned front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 115

3 x Lincolnshire Windsor chairs by Marsh of Sleaford, one high back bow back, one hoop back side chair, and one medium bow back, with 9, 7 and 9 long spindles, bell-shaped seats, turned underarms x 2, ring and cove turned front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 115

All three chairs bear the maker's stamp on the rear upper part of the seat: MARSH SLEAFORD. This picture demonstrates the interchangeability of component parts: the legs are all identical (accepting that the chair on the left has been reduced in height some time ago). Thomas and James Marsh developed an elegant and balanced turned leg and they stuck by it faithfully through out many years and never went for the two ring motif on later chairs as other makers did.  The underarm turnings are consistent on the two armchairs and all three chairs have the same H stretcher with darts.

© William Sergeant 2013 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair, 7 long spindles, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 15

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair WS 15

Unsigned side chair showing striking similarities to chair at figure NE55 on p. 123 of Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990). On that basis this chair is likely to have been made in the workshop of James Marsh of Sleaford (1803 - 1870 or that of his father Thomas (1779 - 1844).

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair stamped MARSH of Sleaford, with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with 6 bobbin turning WS 83

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair stamped MARSH of Sleaford, with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove front legs with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher with 6 bobbin turning WS 83

I was fortunate to acquire this little gem of a chair from an antique shop in Grantham , clearly signed: MARSH SLEAFORD. I have written a few words about him at WS 29. Other chairs by him appear in Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990). We are all fortunate in the fact that not only did he sign a good number of his chairs but also that he made them so sturdy and elegant. James Marsh was already living in Sleaford in 1822 when his sister Sophia was born, he got married in 1836 and his first child was born there on 30th May 1841 and in due course two more daughters were born in 1843 and 1845 (Elizabeth and Emma) Sophia's death was announced in the local paper on the 20th August 1843 . Imagine the parents' joy in December 1848 at the birth of their son William, only for this to turn to utter sorrow on the death of the baby's Ann on the 10th December, followed a few days later by the infant son on 30th December. The 1851 census shows James living at 65 Jermyn St. Sleaford and working as a chairmaker and surrounded by his family: Ellen (70 ) mother and schoolmistress, Ann(40) sister and dressmaker, Elizabeth (39) sister and dressmaker along with his daughters Ann (11) , Elizabeth (8) and Emma (6). By 1871 it is assumed that James had died ( though no will has been found) as all his female family are still at the same address except for his mother and daughter Ann.

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, stamped TAYLOR GRANTHAM, with 4 long spindles, splat with vase and teardrop piercing, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 81

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, stamped TAYLOR GRANTHAM, with 4 long spindles, splat with vase and teardrop piercing, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 81

A well-balanced Lincolnshire Windsor side chair from the collection of Brian Gray. This a good quality splat back side chair with a bold stamp of Taylor of Grantham on the upper rear of the seat. A beautifully crafted chair, elegantly designed and well made. Pre 1809.

© William Sergeant 2020

Lincolnshire Windsor hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove turned front legs with lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher WS 147

Lincolnshire Windsor hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove turned front legs with lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher WS 147

The first spindle back side chair to be recorded; faintly stamped at the upper rear of the seat TAYLOR GRANTHAM. Made entirely out of ash and from the same farmhouse as WS 146. It's hardly surprising that one of this pattern by this maker would eventually turn up as all the Grantham makers appear to have made this design and figure NE41 at p. 121 of Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990) is the same but with a back splat.

So which one of the Taylors made this one - Cotton lists James, John, John junior, Joseph and William in the back of his book - it could be any of them? However recent research has discovered another unrecorded Taylor by the name of Roger. Let me explain: while browsing through some old paper advertisements I came across one seeking a Journeyman Windsor chair maker who would have constant employ and wages according to his merit by applying to Mr Roger Taylor, Windsor chairmaker of Grantham. This was in the Stamford Mercury in July 1800. Further investigation has revealed that on 7th Jan 1782 there was the marriage of Roger Taylor to Sophia Smith and later that year, on 15th October, there was registered the birth of their first child John. He was followed by William in March 1785 and James in July 1787.  I have Robert Williams to thank for informing me that a William Taylor was apprenticed to William Allison, joiner , of Grantham on the 6th December 1799 for the sum of £21 for 7 years. This means that there is a strong possibility that in the 1780s or 1790s Windsor chairs were being made in Grantham by Roger Taylor and that the three chairmakers mentioned by Cotton all were the children or grandchildren of Roger.

I quickly found out that Roger died and was buried in Grantham one year after he put the advertisement in the paper, in Oct 1801. This means that his eldest son John would have been only 17 years old at the time of his death and not even finished his apprenticeship, if he was doing one. So who would have run the business of chairmaking? Well the answer lies in an advertisement that appeared in the Stamford Mercury in June 1802 the year after the death of Roger: his wife Sophia placed an advertisement saying that she is to continue the business and asking for journeymen to apply for work making chairs for her.  The advertisement was signed by Mrs S. Taylor, Windsor and Fancy Chair-manufacturer. 

Another advertisement by by Mrs S. Taylor, Windsor and Fancy Chair-manufacturer, appeared in the Stamford Mercury in February 1809. It was advertising for an apprentice to start immediately at Windsor and fancy chair-manufacturer and after the time served the young man would be entitled to become a Freeman of the borough of Grantham.

On a final note, I would like you to ponder on this: the burial register notes that Roger was 38 at the time of his death which means that if he had done an apprenticeship it would have been in the late 1770s, which really places him at the very beginning of the Grantham Windsor chair making tradition Who taught him and where did he learn his skills?

Click on this link to see me give a talk to the Regional Furniture Society conference in London, March 2019, about the Taylors of Grantham.

© William Sergeant 2014 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair stamped WILSON GRANTHAM with 3 x quatrefoil pierced splat, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, 4 x ring and cove leg turnings with lower ring, crinoline stretcher, WS 184

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair stamped WILSON GRANTHAM with 3 x quatrefoil pierced splat, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, 4 x ring and cove leg turnings with lower ring, crinoline stretcher, WS 184

Vernacular furniture is sometimes  referred to, in a slightly disparaging way, as 'country furniture' which carries with it the implication that is not of such good quality or design. When I find chairs like this one pictured above, made probably 200 years ago, I marvel at the superb quality of craftsmanship of these Lincolnshire county makers. My research has been unable to reveal who actually made this chair, whether it was John Wilson himself or a journeyman that was employed in his workshop, but the quality of balanced design along with beautifully executed turnery to the legs just shows what excellent work was being produced.

I had come across this maker at least ten years ago while doing research in to the Grantham chairmakers but he was described as a chairmaker of Little Gonerby and it was unclear as to exactly what type of chairs he was making.  So I was delighted when an auctioneer in the south of the county contacted me to say that a set of 4 side chairs with the stamp of WILSON GRANTHAM had been consigned to his sale. I accordingly secured the chairs as they make a valuable contribution to my museum as well as a graceful addition to my front room.

The seats of all the chairs are made from ash wood while all other components are of yew. I get the impression that the turners liked to use yew as its incredibily tight grain means that wonderful detail can shown in their execution of the leg turnings. That's why the best chairs were made from yew and today command the highest prices.

© William Sergeant 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with a lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 16

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with a lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 16

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with a lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher.  Has some similarities to the side chairs which appear at figures NE53 (stamped SHIRLEY) and NE 55 (stamped MARSH) on p. 123 of Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990).

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire Windsor hoop back side chair, with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove turned front legs, plain back legs and H stretcher

Lincolnshire Windsor side chair, Grantham WS 88

A little gem of a chair with a very unusual feature. Although it is unsigned it has all the characteristics that you would associate with a Grantham chair. The seat is made of elm and the rest is ash; but just study those front legs for a moment. They are crisply crafted by an experienced turner but on close inspection they are most definitely not made out of ash. They look remarkably like yew wood but there many woodworm holes: one of yew wood's features is that it is never attacked by them so that rules yew wood out. The only wood that I think it can be is birch and if so this is (was at that time - ed.) the first time I have ever seen it used in a Windsor or kitchen chair. If you have ever seen it used before then please let me know. A further note on the use of birch  was in yesterday's post about WS 60.

© William Sergeant 2020

Yealmpton, Devon, painted hoop back side chair, bell seat, 7 long spindles, ring & cove leg turnings, front and back with 1 lower ring, H stretcher with dart turning

WS 150 Yealmpton side chair

I met with Brian Gray and Stephen Vogt to look closely at the features of this chair. Between us we have over many years viewed countless auctions and scoured many antique shops in search of Lincolnshire chairs in the county and we all agreed that we had not seen anything remotely like this one before. Indeed we all concurred that the use of a draw knife to make the back spindles and the outside stretchers was enough to definitely say that this was not a product of Lincolnshire.

When I got back home I spoke to Bill Cotton, who had seen the same photos as well, he immediately pointed out the same decoration on p.272 of his book The English Regional Chair (1990). He went on to say that there was only one place that had the tradition of using yellow ochre (among other colours) and that of course was in Yealmpton in Devon. The chair in plate 37 is now in the Geffrye Museum. He also went on to say that there exists a three-seater Windsor settee in existence with identical decoration and that is published and recorded in the book "American Painted Furniture" by Dean A Fales. The provenance of this settee can be traced back to an antique shop in Stow in the Wold. Bill Cotton is convinced the settee and the two side chairs were made by the same maker in Yealmpton. He also explained the spindles being made with a draw knife: the makers were carpenters and coopers and were quite comfortable with the technique. The settee is now housed in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. It is such an extraordinary creation that I have included a picture of it below.

Three-seater Windsor settee, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, USA

© William Sergeant 2014 & 2019

John Amos, Grantham: stamped hoop back Lincolnshire side chair, 6 spindles, flattened ball & cove with single lower ring front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with additional rear stretcher

WS 79 John Amos, Grantham

In the collection of Brian Gray.  Stamped at the rear of the seat. Compare with No 158.

© William Sergeant 2019

John Amos, Grantham: stamped hoop back Lincolnshire side chair, 7 spindles, ring & cove with single lower ring front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher

WS 158 John Amos Grantham

I am indebted to Tony Howe of Suffolk for finding and donating this chair to my collection.

Nowhere in the literature on vernacular chairs is there a reference to side chairs by the business owned by John Amos of Grantham and now there are two on this site. The one shown in picture No 79 has six spindles in the back support while this one has seven. The seat and front legs are made from elm and all other components are made out of ash wood . The name stamp is on the edge of the seat and there are three wooden pins driven through from the back of the bow to strengthen the construction of the back support. As with all Amos chairs the seat has straight edges as opposed to the more usual bell-shaped seats, in plan, by other Lincolnshire makers of this period.

© William Sergeant 2019

12

Windsor side chair with hoop back and slightly smaller proportions, signed MARSH SLEAFORD.

13

Windsor side chair with hoop back support, signed MARSH SLEAFORD.  The chair in this exhibition is the left-hand chair in the photo.

24

Windsor side chair, signed CAMM GRANTHAM, produced in the workshop of Thomas Camm in Grantham about 1820-30.

26

Windsor side chair, signed WILSON GRANTHAM, so turned out by John Wilson of Little Gonerby. A hoop back design with a pierced splat made out of yew wood. Chairs by this maker are rare.

40

Windsor side chair, unsigned, but identical to others signed TAYLOR GRANTHAM, hoop back support with spindles and splat.