LATE 18TH EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Chairs of this type, either with bow backs or comb rails, have strong affiliations with the Celtic traditions, where the use of a draw knife to produce the spindles and legs is a common technique. Other Celtic features including the use of legs without cross stretchers and square fronted seats, are present in this chair. In particular, however, the use of a round top bow and cleft, bent, under arm sections are found in Windsor chairs made in both the Cornish and South Yorkshire traditions, and their similarities may emanate from the transference of design ideas and techniques brought by mine workers moving from the West Country to North Country mining areas. There is a closely similar chair, collected in Cornwall, in the Cotton Collection at the Geffrye Museum, London.