A West Country beechwood and ash high back Windsor armchairEarly 19th century

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Lot 99 and 100-- Windsor chairs made in Cornwall form a specialised group made by coopers who worked in coastal fishing towns and villages, making 'dry' barrels to hold salted fish. Part of this craft involved splitting thin Ash coppice to bind the barrel staves. The ends of these bindings were shaped on one side to tuck into the binding, which was then held in place with a nail. This process was extended to produce the uniquely flattened top bows which these Cornish Windsors display, with the shaped ends which mortice into the arm bows. Windsor arm chairs of this type are characterised, again uniquely in this tradition, in having three decoratively turned under-arm spindles on each side. The back spindles are, in common with many West Country Windsors, hand shaped with a draw knife and spoke shave and they are morticed through the top bow and are splayed outwards in a fan shape, a feature which is highly diagnostic of their West Country origin. The construction of the three-part arm bows is particular to West Country Windsors too. Dr. B D Cotton, January 2004

A West Country beechwood and ash high back Windsor armchair Early 19th century

Details

A West Country beechwood and ash high back Windsor armchair
Early 19th century
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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 Collection and Storage charges

Lot Essay

A similar chair is illustrated in Dr. B. Cotton The English Regional Chair, Woodbridge 1990, page 267, figure SW21

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