Object Description
A walnut stained beech wood Baveystock Campaign Chair, re-upholstered in padded and buttoned green leather. The chair is made to recline to 3 set positions. The arms are made in 2 parts united by a strong spring to the box underneath them. Also within this box is a brass plate with 3 holes to receive a brass lug that can be set in position by lifting the front of the arm. As you recline in the chair, the spring is stretched and the lug can be fitted to the desired hole. Some of the Baveystock Chairs had an oval brass plague to the back noting ‘The Baveytock, No 6787, May 20 1886, By Royal Letters Patent’. We have seen others with a paper label. This one has a worn stamp noting ‘Patent No 6787 Adjustable Chair’ which perhaps suggests it was one of the earlier versions. The chair is shaped to the top to give a padded neck rest and has aesthetic moulding lines to the front edge of the wooden parts of the chair. Ella Constance Sykes, the author of a 1898 travel book Through Persia On A Side-Saddle, noted ‘Our Chairs were the Bavystock, which can be made into a lounge armchair at will, or fold up flat, and are the best all-round article for camp work that we ever came across’. The Army & Navy Club Store Ltd were one of the retailers of the chair and advertised it as available in stained walnut with art tapestry, plain plush or brown canvas without padding. As can be seen, the chair folds flat and, as Miss Sykes noted, is very comfortable. Circa 1890.