Rob Hall Antiques has dated this Antique Elm Windsor Armchair to the 18th Century.
The seat measures 55 cm across at its widest point.
Rising from the seat is an open hoop-and-stick back principally constructed in ash, with the tall outer hoop enclosing a closely spaced arrangement of slender spindles.
The chair stands on four splayed ash legs, the front pair with distinctive ring turning towards the feet, a treatment frequently encountered on West Country Windsor chairs of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Joining the understructure is a cow-horn stretcher, its curved profile contrasting with the otherwise relatively simple construction of the chair.
The use of elm for the seat and ash for the bent, turned and spindle components is entirely characteristic of vernacular Windsor chairmaking. Elm’s interlocking grain made it particularly suitable for the broad seat, into which the numerous structural elements could be securely socketed, while the strength and flexibility of ash made it particularly well suited to the chair’s turned and bent components.
The combination of the elm seat, ash hoop-and-stick construction, closely spaced spindles and ring-turned understructure is consistent with the West Country Windsor tradition. The chair has a seat height of just 39.5 cm and an overall height of 92 cm.
A good, honest example of the distinctive vernacular Windsor chairmaking tradition of the West Country.
Measuring: 55 cm wide at the widest point of the seat x 39 cm front to back x 92 cm high overall. Seat height 39.5 cm.
English, West Country, circa 1820.
Rob Hall Antiques has dated this Antique Elm Windsor Armchair to the 18th Century.
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Rob Hall Antiques Profile Page
A George III West Country Elm & Ash Windsor Armchair with Cow-horn Stretcher, C.1800–1820
