Yorkshire compound-bent bow back Windsor armchair, with 6 long sticks, 4 short, turned underarms, turned legs, and H stretcher WS 219

Most people who visit this chair blog will know that I live in Lincolnshire, which accounts for all the chairs from that county on this site. However, I am fortunate to live very close to the Nottinghamshire border as well as being very close to Newark, which in turn means that it is so easy for me to visit the huge antique fair at the Newark showground several times every year. It has been a spectacular hunting ground for me in my search for vernacular furniture. Some of the dealers have got to recognise me and occasionally ask for my thoughts and advice on various pieces that they have brought along with them. Dave is one such dealer and I always make his pitch my first stop every time I visit the fair. He is from over the Humber Bridge in South Yorkshire and he kindly keeps interesting chairs in his van so that I can have first pick, which I really appreciate. 

Yorkshire compound-bent bow back Windsor armchair, with 6 long sticks, 4 short, turned underarms, turned legs through-mortised and wedged, with H stretcher WS 219

A couple of years ago he produced this chair from the back of his van and because it had its legs reduced in length and had been totally painted white, he said it was mine for a few pounds. I knew it was a Yorkshire Windsor chair and told him so, pointing out that it was worth more than he was asking for it. The rather bizarre negotiation then took place where I was talking the price up while he was happy with the first price that had been mentioned. In the end we met in the middle and we were both more than happy. 

It has the unique feature of the compound steam bent back bow, that is a hallmark of these Yorkshire Windsor chairs. Every component appears to be made from Ash wood with everything being contempory with its making and no replacement parts. If you look closely at the image, you will see that the legs are of differing designs - I have no doubt that it started life like this.

Legs through-mortised and wedged from above WS 219

Long sticks through back bow and wedged from above WS 219

Shortly afterwards, I took it along to Tim Garland in Lincoln to discuss the best way to do some sort of restoration work on it. Using stripper to clean off all the white paint was not an option so it was done the hard way - a little bit of scrapping at a time, so as to remove the white and leave as much as possible of its original green paint. Many thanks to Tim and his wife Vicky for doing such a fine job.

Before the paint was removed WS 219

Before the paint was removed WS 219

Underside of seat WS 219

© William Sergeant 2021

Yorkshire compound-bent bow back Windsor armchair, with 6 long sticks, 2 short, crook underarms, round seat, turned legs and H stretcher, painted green WS 218

Yorkshire compound-bent bow back Windsor armchair, with 6 long sticks, 2 short, crook underarms, round seat, turned legs and H stretcher, painted green WS 218

The retired dealer mentioned in WS 217 allowed me to record this green painted Windsor chair and told me that he had purchased it many years ago from a Sheffield auction house. He had seen others with their distinctive circular seat and believed that they were produced in Yorkshire. 

Side view WS 218

As is obvious from this picture, the back bow also has the compound bend mentioned in Bowett's RF 2004 article, which he points out is unique among British Windsor chairs. He goes on to say " The top bow is round in section and has a two-dimensional or compound curve; it is not only arched, as are all Windsor top bows, but it is also curved backwards. This gives the chair a barrel-shaped back which is amazingly comfortable, and suggests a sophistication of design which belies their often crude appearance."

An identical chair, again made out of ash wood, passed through the sale room of Summersgills in Easingwold (which is a few miles to the Northwest of York) in September 2017 but was simply described as a "Windsor chair". A third identical chair is located in a Museum in the City of York with the title of a local Windsor chair.

Arm terminal WS 218

Round seat, painted green WS 218 

© William Sergeant 2021

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chairs x 4, with straight backpoles with tapered feet & button finials, 4 ladders, domed with downward shape, rush bars, rush-seated, Lincolnshire front stretcher, double rear stretchers, double side stretchers, turned front legs & pad feet

WS 68 Lincolnshire rush-seated chairs, probably made by Ashton/Green

These four identical chairs appeared as one lot at the auction house in Ossett, South Yorkshire. They are in excellent condition with virtually no wear to the legs or stretcher at the front: they were sold to me for very little as no one else was interested in them. This design of Lincolnshire rush-seated chair is by far the most frequent; I would say that 50% of those I see are of this design; elegant, sturdy and beautifully crafted. I didn't keep these chairs but was happy to pass them on to a keen collector of all things from Louth as they were probably made by the Ashton/Green families around Louth. He also wanted to take Mr Muggins, the cat, but he is very valuable to me as he is in charge of vermin control around the farm buildings and I would not let him go!

© William Sergeant 2019

4

Rush seated ladder back side chair by unknown maker, purchased from Lincoln auctioneer. Other examples are known so could have come from the workshop of John Todd of Caistor. Before 1862.

37

 

Early Windsor chair, appeared at my Spilsby open chair surgery in May 2017, has a provenance that goes back several generations to the Boston area. Ash wood construction, mid 1700’s.

39

Early Windsor chair without any known provenance. However, similar chair appears in Thomas Crispin’s book (pub 1992) on p. 63. Crispin always referred to these as Lincolnshire chairs.