Antique Georgian stunning rare elm writing chair

Most people would describe this item as a corner or angle chair but it is a writing chair and a rare Georgian piece of furniture

The high back is unusual - the closest chair to this stylistically is the American comb-back Windsor chair from c.1765 but this item is English. It is a provincially made piece of furniture which has stood the test of time. Being constructed of elm it has a lovely mellow patination. The user would sit astride the chair at a desk with the  spindled embellishment supporting the user’s upper torso or neck

In detail we have the following:

• the chair has been very carefully crafted with intricately fret carved vase shaped splats located within shoe pieces (sometimes called slipper sections). The splats were never glued in place so that the splats could swell and shrink across the grain thus avoiding splitting. Unfortunately, someone in the past did not understand this and used nails to attach the tops of the splats to the supporting timber behind them. As can be seen, this caused the splats to split at the top - ironically, the very thing the craftsman who constructed this chair had deliberately took pains to avoid ! I have removed the nails but have left the cracks in the splats as they are part of the history of the chair

• the impressive bow arm terminates in puddle arm rests and are connected to the legs via turned triple gun barrel supports

• located into the bow are four tapered spindles which helped to create a high comb back to support the upper torso and neck of the user whilst at their desk. These spindles are a little loose but nothing untoward in an item of this age

• the legs are of square form united by box stretchers

• there is the expected and desired wear on the stretchers

This chair has considerable charm, character and personality. Some restoration work has been carried out :

The seat is in three pieces – two of these are original to the item - the naturally occurring break being an expansion/contraction crack caused by changes in humidity. A narrow lateral fillet has been added to the front of the chair seat as this wood was missing when this item was acquired. This fillet is under a moulding which was also missing when I acquired this chair. The seat has been strengthened from underneath by the addition of a cross-member as shown in one of the photographs

This is an impressive looking and substantial chair of excellent form and proportion - a real statement piece and a rare item - this really is a case of find me another one !

This chair is for collection from Buntingford (East Herts. SG9) but I am happy to liaise with a courier if you wish to organize one

Please see my other items which are predominantly 18th and 19th century in date