Lot Essay
A similar armchair is illustrated in Dr Bill Cotton, The English Regional Chair Woodbridge, 1991, p.300, fig WM29.
This chair is of a design made by the rural chair turner Philip Clissett (fl.1841-1913) who worked in the village of Bosbury, near Ledbury, Herefordshire, during the 19th century and into the first years of the 20th century. This design was also adopted by the designer and architect, Ernest Gimson (1864-1919) who, with others, was prominent in the Cotswold Arts and Crafts movement. Gimson worked with Clissett and reproduced this design in his workshop at Rodmarton in Gloucestershire. So closely was Clissett's design emulated in the Gimson workshop that it is difficult to positively ascribe chairs of this type to one or other of these workshops.
This chair is of a design made by the rural chair turner Philip Clissett (fl.1841-1913) who worked in the village of Bosbury, near Ledbury, Herefordshire, during the 19th century and into the first years of the 20th century. This design was also adopted by the designer and architect, Ernest Gimson (1864-1919) who, with others, was prominent in the Cotswold Arts and Crafts movement. Gimson worked with Clissett and reproduced this design in his workshop at Rodmarton in Gloucestershire. So closely was Clissett's design emulated in the Gimson workshop that it is difficult to positively ascribe chairs of this type to one or other of these workshops.