Pair of rare Yealhampton windsor chairs
Ash with elm seats
English (Yealhampton Devon)
circa 1820
Price: please enquire
The small village of Yealhampton in Devon would seem an unlikely centre of 'Windsor chair' making in the nineteeth century but the chairs made there are distinctive, beautifully constructed and unique to this small area. The seven spindles are always oval in section and come right through the hoop and are held with small square pegs driven through from the front.
The arms are exceptional being made of 1/2 inch cleft ash thinned on the underside to form the bend and the join at the seat is unique also.
Three types of legs have been found the 'colts foot' with a single ball and ring near the bottom are known elswhere but the 'faux bamboo' and the 'triple swellings' seem to be unique amongst English Windsors and seem to have more in common with American Windsors - the triple swellings type of legs match the set of chairs made for George Washington at Mount Vernon by Gilbert and Robert Gaw of Philadelphia.
For similar examples see:
"The English Regional Chair" by Bernard Cotton
"Farm and Cottage Furniture in the West Country"
by Gabriel Olive
