ATTRIBUTED TO BIRCH & CO, CIRCA 1900

William Birch established his chairmaking business in High Wycombe in the 1840s, and his son Walter took over the business, by then known as Birch & Company, in 1895 with additional premises established in Euston Road, London, and workshops in nearby Denmark Street. The firm were pioneers in creating high class Windsor chairs, using imported rather than native timbers and employing leading designers. They supplied furniture for leading London stores including Liberty and exhibited at the St. Louis International Exhibition in 1904. Birch's Design and Cost Book entry for one of his armchairs is reproduced in Michael Harding-Hill, Windsor Chairs, An Illustrated Celebration, Woodbridge, 2003, p.148.