Object Description
This is a fine quality antique English set of 12 oak Arts & Crafts chairs, attributed to the one of the most important cabinetmakers of the 20th century, Edward Barnsley. Ideal for use as a large set of kitchen or dining chairs, circa 1935, they have been newly upholstered and are in excellent condition.
Summary:
• Item: 12 oak Arts & Crafts chairs
• Circa: 1935
• Period: George V
• Attributed to Edward Barnsley
• Style: Arts & Crafts
• Provenance: England, United Kingdom
• Style: Arts & Crafts / Cotswold
• Quantity: 12 side chairs
• Wood: Solid oak
• Horizontal “comb-back” top rail
• Scribe moulded rectangular frames
• Drop-in seats
• Newly upholstered
• Hopsack chenille weave material
• Oatmeal colour material
• Moulded block front legs
• Splayed rear legs
• Connecting “H” stretchers for strength
• Original polish & patination
• Clear waxed finish
• Solid in joint
• Free delivery to England, Wales & southern Scotland*
• Free 14-day UK returns policy
Description:
This is a fine quality antique English set of 12 oak Arts & Crafts chairs, attributed to the one of the most important cabinetmakers of the 20th century, Edward Barnsley. Ideal for use as a large set of kitchen or dining chairs, circa 1935, they have been newly upholstered and are in excellent condition. The set comprises twelve side chairs. The 12 oak Arts & Crafts chairs are designed with a horizontal “comb-back” top rail, secured by a bank of moulded bars, decorated with scribe moulding across the frames, constructed in solid oak. The chairs have been newly upholstered in top quality oatmeal colour hardwearing hopsack chenille weave upholstery. The chair frames are constructed using the traditional joined peg construction method. The chairs stand on moulded block front legs, with sabre rear legs and the seat frame features a simple moulded front rail, secured by four stretchers, for additional strength.
Edward Barnsley first produced this design for the coronation of Edward VIII in 1936. This style of chair was sometimes referred to as a “Cotswold” or “School” chair; the design of which was influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement. Some of the chair seat rails bear crowned ‘A.M’ cyphers.
This set of 12 oak Arts & Crafts chairs boasts the original polish; therefore, they have a fantastic depth of colour and patination, displaying a lovely mellow colour.
If you do not like the colour/style of the upholstery, we can recover the seats in a fabric of your choice. If you would like the seats recovered, please contact us for a quote.
These twelve oak Cotswold dining chairs would look would look good anywhere, from a formal room or for everyday use. They would certainly grace any home or office and are a great investment, as they are extremely functional. So, don’t miss out on your chance to own a lovely piece of furniture.
Edward Barnsley – Biography:
Edward Barnsley (1900-1987) was one of the most important British furniture makers of the 20th Century. He was born into a family of furniture makers. His father Sidney, uncle Ernest and their friend Ernest Gimson had been inspired by William Morris and embraced his radical ideas. In 1893 these three moved from London to the Cotswolds to put their beliefs into practice. They built their own houses using local materials and traditional techniques. They established workshops and made furniture generally from solid planks of timber. They celebrated the construction methods by exposing the tenons and dovetails. The furniture was often decorated with simple chip carving. Today Gimson and the Barnsleys are seen as key figures in the Arts and Crafts Movement and their influence on design has been immense.
In 1910, having spent his early years in the Cotswolds, Edward went to Bedales, the progressive school near Petersfield in Hampshire. The school encouraged the learning of practical skills and valued craftwork. In 1920 Edward went back to Hampshire to train in Geoffrey Lupton’s workshop in Froxfield. As well as making furniture he worked with Lupton on the construction of the new library at Bedales, which had been designed by Gimson.
In 1923 Lupton stepped back from furniture making and Edward took over the workshop retaining most of the employees. He made furniture very much in the Cotswold style. He inherited clients from Lupton and then from his father, who died in 1926. Unlike his father, who worked alone, Edward always employed craftsmen and apprentices. Under his leadership the workshop made around seven thousand individually crafted pieces. The workshop survived the difficult times of the depression and the war years keeping alive the spirit of the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Edward gradually developed his own lighter style. He combined his father’s influence with the elegant curves and fine inlay lines seen in the work of English furniture makers of the 18th century. As well as using the oak and walnut favoured by the Arts and Crafts pioneers, he used exotic timbers such as rosewood and blackbean. Electricity finally arrived at the workshop in 1955 and by using machines, less time was spent on the more laborious tasks like planing and sawing the rough timber.
Edward had mixed feelings about increased mechanization because he felt that it was the craftsman’s handwork that gave each piece its individuality. Unlike some furniture designers he thought it was important to acknowledge the contribution of the skilled maker to the success of a piece of furniture. Edward engaged his first apprentice in 1924, Herbert Upton, who went on to become the workshop foreman. Alan Peters OBE (1933-2009) is perhaps the best known of the workshop’s former apprentices.
In 1945 Edward was awarded the CBE for services to design. Outside the workshop Edward was a visiting lecturer at Loughborough College and he was a key figure in the formation of the Crafts Council.
In 1980 a trust was set up secure the future of the workshop and to preserve the unique opportunity of a Barnsley Workshop training. It was through the work of the Edward Barnsley Educational Trust, and particularly the enormous contribution of Edward’s widow Tania, son Jon and daughter Karin, that the workshop has managed to establish a degree of financial security. Today the workshop continues to produce furniture to the high standards of design and workmanship established by Edward.
Source: https://www.barnsley-furniture.co.uk/about/our-heritage/
Condition Report:
This is a fine quality antique English set of 12 oak Arts & Crafts chairs, attributed to the one of the most important cabinetmakers of the 20th century, Edward Barnsley. Ideal for use as a large set of kitchen or dining chairs, circa 1935, they have been newly upholstered and are in excellent condition. The chair frames have been glued, cleaned and wax-polished (with a clear wax) to a professional standard, therefore they boast a lovely colour and patination. Nominal old use marks to the leading edges of the chair frames but nothing significant considering the age of the chairs. The drop-in seats have been newly upholstered in hardwearing patterned silk damask upholstery. The upholstery is therefore clean, free from wear and marks. If you do not like the colour/style of the upholstery, we can recover the seats in a fabric of your choice. If you would like the seats recovered, please contact us for a quote. The chair frames and joints are all in excellent condition, solid in joint with no breaks; the chairs are ready to be used.
Dimensions:
Height = 87.5cm / 34½” / 2ft 10½”
Width = 50cm / 19¾”/ 1ft 7¾”
Depth = 48.5cm / 19⅛”/ 1ft 7⅛”
Seat Height (Centre) = 48cm / 18⅞” / 1ft 6⅞”
Seat Width = 47cm / 18½”/ 1ft 6½”
Seat Depth = 38cm / 15”/ 1ft 3”
Back Height = 44cm / 17¼” / 1ft 5¼”
Customer Service:
We offer customer satisfaction through the following services:
• Free delivery to England, Wales & Southern Scotland*
• Free 14 Day Returns
• Full money back assurance
• Worldwide shipping
• Full insurance of items in transit
Further Information:
For more information or photographs please email or call us.
Office: 01829 458 070
Julian: 07960 738 212
Yola: 07971 882 567
Customers outside the UK should call:
Office: 00 44 1829 458 070
Julian: 00 44 7960 738 212
Yola: 00 44 7971 882 567
Email: [email protected]
Free UK Delivery*:
We offer free delivery to mainland England, Wales, and Southern Scotland (anywhere south of Stirling). *We do not offer free delivery to locations north of Stirling in Scotland, Northern Ireland, or any British Islands off the mainland; for example, the Isle of Man, Isle of White and Channel Islands. If you live in one of the areas where we do not offer free delivery, please contact us for a delivery quote before purchasing the item. Delivery will be made by our specialised antique furniture delivery service, or in some cases we will use a courier service for distant deliveries.
Delivery times are usually 1-4 weeks depending on location; we aim to deliver the majority of items within 2 weeks. All items are professionally packaged and fully insured in transit; therefore, we can assure you, your items will be securely protected in transit and arrive safely with you.
Once you have purchased an item, we will contact you by email and/or telephone and provide you with a provisional delivery date, in order for you to confirm if it is suitable for you. Once you have confirmed you can accept delivery on the provisional delivery date, we will book the delivery in with our shippers and it then becomes a confirmed delivery date.
We will also provide you with our shippers’ contact details, in case you need to contact the driver on the day of delivery. It’s helpful if you can provide us with both the landline and mobile telephone number, in case the driver cannot reach you on one of the numbers on the day of delivery, they can contact you on your alternative number.
In order to be able to offer you free delivery, it is based on a 1-man delivery only. For any large items that require 2 people to lift the item, we ask that you are available at the time of delivery to be able to give our shipper a lift off the van and into your house with the item. If you are not able to lift items yourself, we ask that you have someone on hand at the time of delivery to assist our shipper with lifting the item.
Free 14 Days UK Returns & Refunds:
A free 14-day “no quibble” returns policy (from the date you receive the item) is available if you are not happy with this item. We will collect the item free of charge from you (we do not charge a return fee / collection fee). You will be given a full refund as long as the item is returned in the same condition. We will collect returns using our own specialist furniture delivery company. We will not accept returns via a courier service (due to experience of damaged items in transit). This refund policy only applies to deliveries to the UK.
UK Buyer Payment:
For UK buyers, we accept cash on collection or delivery; cheque, credit card, BACS (free bank to bank transfer) or PayPal. Payment is requested within 5 days of the sale. Payment must be cleared before the items are collected or delivered.
International Buyers:
If you live outside the UK and you would like to purchase this item, please contact us before purchasing it, so that we can obtain an accurate shipping quote and delivery lead-time. The shipping quote provided is a global estimate only. The actual shipping cost will vary by country and postcode. Due to the distances and costs involved with shipping outside the UK, a returns policy is therefore not available for international buyers. Before placing your order(s) please make sure this is the item for you. We request payment by bank transfer (we do not accept payment via PayPal, credit or debit cards for international purchases). Payment is requested within 10 days of the purchase. Payment must be cleared before the items are collected or delivered to our shippers. The advertised price of the item does not include the shipping cost, sales tax, import duty or custom fees.
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About the Seller:
This item is being sold by Yola Gray Antiques who is an accredited member of LAPADA (the UK’s largest Trade Association of Professional Art and Antique Dealers) and CINOA. CINOA is the world association of Art & Antique dealer associations. All LAPADA & CINOA members abide by their strict code of practice by adhering to reputable standards of quality, expertise and integrity.
Yola Gray has dealt in fine art and antique furniture for over 40 years. Yola Gray has a special interest in colonial furniture, specifically colonial four poster beds. Yola Gray also provides a variety of fine English antique furniture, art and fabrics to clients in the UK, Europe and further afield.
Please visit the Yola Gray website at www.yolagray.com for further items and information.
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