MID 17TH CENTURY

Details

AN ENGLISH OR WELSH YEW TREE TURNER'S CHAIR
MID 17TH CENTURY
With triangular seat
34½in. (87cm.) high, 26in. (66cm.) wide, the seat 17in. (44cm.) deep

Provenance

Purchased at Sotheby's Billingshurst 23rd November 1993, lot 17

Literature

A very similar chair is illustrated in Victor Chinnery, Oak Furniture, The British Tradition, Woodbridge, 1979, p.88, fig.2.73.
Another similar is illustrated as fig. 7 in Dr. R. Ryder Three Legged Turned Chairs Connoisseur, December 1975 Page 243 - 247

A number of closely similar triangular seated chairs have featured in various collections, including the Rous Lench collection, Sotheby's, July 1986, lot 709 (yewtree), The Moller Collection, Sotheby's, November 1993, lots 16 and 17 (both ash), The Dr. Richard Ryder Collection, Sotheby's, July 2002, lot 105 (fruitwood)
There are also a number of yewtree chairs of this model at The Welsh Folk Museum, St. Fagan's, Cardiff

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. This lot is subject to storage and collection charges. **For Furniture and Decorative Objects, storage charges commence 7 days from sale. Please contact department for further details.**

Lot Essay

These triangular seated turned chairs are immensely strong due to their construction; each horizontal seat-rail has one end formed as a square tenon and the other as a turned finger. The latter passes through its neighbouring tenon, acting as a securing peg and thus creating at each corner a strong joint within the upright posts. The square tenon prevents the natural tendency of the seat rail to rotate under the weight of the sitter, and thus avoids the danger of the seat panel falling out. Additionally, the posts are assembled in the 'green', shrinking quite quickly and thus further tightening each joint

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