Pair of early nineteenth century Windsor side chairs,
South-West England c.1810,
£350
ash with elm seats, with hand-drawn elliptical spindles and bamboo turned legs united by h-stretchers (one spindle detached at base).
The exaggerated chamfer to the seats of these chairs appears idiosyncratic to those made in the Yealmpton area of Devon. Whilst this cut-away design is not found on chairs from any other region in England, the form does bear resemblance to their American counterparts from New England. Many early emigrant workers were from this coastal region, leaving from the port of Plymouth, and this link is the likely reason for such similarities. Who came up with the design first is a mystery!
