Another possible Joseph Newton chair restored

Before restoration the whole comb back was warped by the old wrought iron rods (the threads of which are an engineering glory in themselves), but the nuts were very heavily tightened. pic.twitter.com/tm9GdaRqfR

— Julian Parker (@jhjparker) February 19, 2020

18th century likely Lincolnshire comb back Windsor armchair, with curved grooved cresting rail, 8 long spindles, 2 x 3 underarm spindles, turned front arm supports, turned legs thinner in the middle, through-morticed and wedged into the seat

WS 205  18th century likely Lincolnshire comb back

You will have no doubt noticed that this chair is very similar to No 200, except this one has turned underarm supports. No 200, I suggest, was made by the Lincolnshire maker, Joseph Newton, who I believe is the earliest named Windsor chair maker in the world. For an article on this extraordinary Lincolnshire maker, please read my article in the Regional Furniture Society Journal.  Since the publication of the article, one of these chairs has appeared at auction in Canterbury (see picture below),

Canterbury Auction Galleries 2 October 2018 Lot 1161

and another too: this chair in Essex.  

The chair pictured at the top is available for public viewing at the Epworth Rectory Museum, home of the Methodist Wesley family. While this chair has been there for sometime and it has a plaque attached to the top rail, it has not been established how long it has been in their collection, though it is the curator's intention to delve into the archives to see if there is any provenance to go with it. What is so significant about the discovery of this chair is that it has been found in Lincolnshire, very close to the River Trent, which is mentioned in my article and points again to the workshop of Joseph Newton. See also No 209.

© William Sergeant 2019