Lincolnshire bowback spindle back Windsor armchair stamped AMOS GRANTHAM, 9 long spindles, 8 short (some of laburnum), turned fruitwood underarm supports, elm seat, ring and cove front leg turnings with single lower ring, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher

WS 135 Spindle bowback Windsor armchair stamped AMOS GRANTHAM

This chair, mostly made of yew wood, is clearly stamped on the side of the elm seat AMOS GRANTHAM. Everthing about the chair was original and one would not have guessed that it was by this maker, were it not for the name stamp . The underarm supports are not what one would expect: they are not too dissimilar to the pattern used by Taylor and also by Marsh. The front legs are of the common and typical pattern of early Lincolnshire chairmakers and not of the multiple rings that are associated with Amos. This chair had been well used and there were several issues with splits and cracks. The remarkable feature of this chair is the wood used for the short spindles and underarm supports.

WS 134 Detail of spindle bowback Windsor armchair stamped AMOS GRANTHAM

A close-up of these is in the picture above and it is clearly seen that laburnum has been used for the short spindles and a fruitwood, possibly plum, has been used for the underarm support. Many thanks to Christopher Pye for allowing me to photograph his chair. It is rare for laburnum to be used in chair making, certainly in Lincolnshire*, but it just goes to show how these makers would make use of almost any wood that was available on the day.

© William Sergeant and Julian Parker 2020

* Laburnum is not uncommon in Scottish chairmaking tradition.

Glasgow pattern joined armchair with curved top rail, central shaped cross splat, scrolled arms, shaped underarms fixed into side rails, dyked board seat, stretchers x 4, inner & rear tapered legs

WS 144 Scottish joined armchair, Glasgow pattern 

If you thought this site was going to entirely devoted to Lincolnshire chairs then you may be disappointed - or perhaps pleasantly surprised.  This chair was most probably made north of Glasgow & Edinburgh, in lowland Scotland.

How do I know that, I hear you say? Well, just look at the wood of the broad curved top rail, the centrally placed cross splat (with both upward and downward shaping) and the right hand curved back upright are made out of - they contain dark heart wood and light yellow sapwood.   Only one wood like that: Laburnum! There was a strong and well-recorded tradition of the use of Cytisus alpinus (also Laburnum alpinum) from the late 1700s in lowland Perthshire. Also the seat is counter sunk into the rails - known as a dyked seat - and you can just make out the 45° degree angle the corner of the seat board is cut at the top of the legs tapered on the inner and rear faces; both are Scottish traditions.  The scrolled arms and curved underarm supports, fitted to the side seat rails are made from elm and the seat boards from oak. Front and rear stretchers are set higher than those at the sides.

For further examples of these Glasgow pattern chairs, see Dr B D Cotton Scottish Vernacular Furniture (Thames & Hudson 2008) pp.178-188.

I happened across this wonderful piece of vernacular furniture at the Stamford Antique centre described as a yew wood country chair.

© William Sergeant 2019