DESIGNED BY ROBERT LORIMER, ALMOST CERTAINLY MADE BY WILLIAM WHEELER, THE ARNCROACH JOINER, LATE 19TH EARLY 20TH CENTURY

William Wheeler (1845/6-1913) moved to Arncroach circa 1877 and established himself as a wheelwright, joiner and cabinet-maker. Shortly after Wheeler settled in the village, Professor James Lorimer, father of the future architect and furniture designer Robert S. Lorimer (1864-1929) took up a lease of Kellie Castle near Arncroach. Robert Lorimer's early furniture designs were influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement and it was quite appropriate that Lorimer should use local craftsmen such as Wheeler to execute his designs. Wheeler, his son and grandson, both William, operated for approximately ninety years in Arncroach producing both Art Furniture and Vernacular interpretations of classical Eighteenth-Century designs. These chairs were Lorimer's chosen christening presents.