Showing posts with label straight backpoles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label straight backpoles. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 June 2020

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

Sunday, 31 May 2020

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back armchair inscribed 17 W*H 55 on the topmost of 5 domed ladders with downward double half-round shaping, straight back poles with finials, scroll arms morticed into turned front legs, missing rushing bars, with double stretchers all round, 1 of which is missing WS 202

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back armchair inscribed 17 W*H 55 on the topmost of 5 domed ladders with downward double half-round shaping, straight back poles with finials, scroll arms morticed into turned front legs, missing rushing bars, with double stretchers all round, 1 of which is missing WS 202
The top ladder of this chair is clearly incised with the date and initials "17 W*H 55": I am sure that they are contemporary with the making of the chair. Even more remarkably, I have a provenance to go with it, namely that it has been in the same house in northeast Lincolnshire for the last 65 years, having been purchased in a village hall house clearance sale in the south of the county in 1953. I had been aware of its presence for some while as the owner has several other examples of rush-seated Lincolnshire  chairs but only recently did I realise the significance. 

Detail of WS 202 inscription "17 W*H 55"

When I was looking through David Knell's English Country Furniture 1500 - 1900, (1st published 1992, 2nd edition 2000)  I came across two virtually identical chairs on p. 291, though they are dated 1742 and 1739. Of those chairs, Knell says: 

"Incised dates can occasionally be authenticated by subtle variations in the shape of numerals at different periods. The style certainly suggests contemporaneity in this case."

The style and positioning of the numerals on the 1739 chair shown at p. 291 is identical to that above and that chair has a six-pointed star in the middle as well, though no initials. 

Knell attributes these chairs to the north in general and possibly to Lincolnshire, but the one pictured above has a firm association with the county. It can be said with a fair degree of confidence that this chair is at least 264 years old. Even though the condition is very poor, with loose joints, broken rushing rail and some shortening of the legs, the ash wood used to make the chair is in sound condition.

The chair was in my house for some time, during which time I was able to assess and photograph it; on returning it to the owner, I stressed the importance of the preservation of this remarkable survivor and asked that it was not to be sat upon. Indeed I took another armchair along to take its place in the kitchen, so that this one could be positioned in the house where no one could use it.

© William Segeant 2019 and Julian Parker 2020

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair, with plain stay rail attached to button finials of straight backpoles, 3 ladders, missing rushing bars, front stretcher with turnery commonly found in Lincolnshire, turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, with double side and rear stretchers

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair, with plain stay rail attached to button finials of straight backpoles, 3 ladders, missing rushing bars, front stretcher with turnery commonly found in Lincolnshire, turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, with double side and rear stretchers WS 34
This an excellent example of a simple well made rush seated ladder back chair made out of ash (with rerushed seat). Vernacular furniture at its very best, probably made by the Ashton/Green families of the Spilsby, Alford, Louth area. This unloved chair appeared at a local auction house and was lotted with other house clearance bits which I got for a pittance - it should have been acquired by the local museum which is only a few streets away from where it was sold. The town where I bought it: Louth.

© William Sergeant 2012

Thursday, 19 March 2020

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back armchair: 5 ladders with lower indented shape, straight back poles with flattened finials, front legs with graceful pad feet with upper turning joining the arms, Lincolnshire front stretcher turning, double side and rear stretchers

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back armchair WS 22
A Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back similar, but not identical, to one that appears at figure NE189 on page 154 in Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990).  The front legs and turnings are very similar but the arms of NE189 are straight, whereas those in this chair curve and terminate in a flattened rounded saucer shape. This chair is taller and consequently has room for an extra ladder.

© William Sergeant and Julian Parker 2012 and 2020

Saturday, 30 November 2019

Lincolnshire Rush-seated Corner Chair corner chair, 3 straight backpoles, with pad feet, 2 splats, double Lincs front stretcher, double rear stretcher, double side stretchers, 3 part crest rail,

WS 69 Lincolnshire Corner Rush-seated Chair
This corner chair appeared in a Lincoln auction house in 2012. I studied it closely and was convinced it was a Lincolnshire chair the like of which I had never seen before. When it came to the auction someone else wanted it more than me, as I was left being the under-bidder. It was in fair condition and really should have spent the rest of its life in a museum in the county; I think I could search for many years and never see another: anyway we can all enjoy the image of it here. I sent a copy of this picture to Dr Bernard Cotton and he replied that this was the only Lincolnshire rush seated chair he had ever seen - it just makes me feel all the more foolish for not bidding higher.

© William Sergeant 2019

Thursday, 26 September 2019

Bar top Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair, straight back uprights with decorative shaped stay rail with lower indented design, 4 ladders, same lower indent, straight front legs with reduced pad feet morticed into the seat frame, front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double rear and side stretchers

WS 87 Bar top Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair

This model of chair was recorded by Dr B D Cotton on p.157 of The English Regional Chair (1990): they are not at all common and I was so pleased to find this example at the Newark Antiques Fair. It's in good condition with recent professional re-rushing but lacking its seat edge strips.

One of the benefits of collecting these Lincolnshire chairs is that after gathering a number together it is possible to see similarities emerging; there are are little construction marks that are only apparent on very close inspection and they appear on this chair along with numbers WS 54, WS 52, WS 37 and WS 70 . There is good evidence that they came out of the same workshop.

© William Sergeant 2019