Object number
77/234
Description
The Windsor Comb-back was in vogue from c.1700-1800, and then again, in a heavier design, from c.1830-1900. This chair, and another the same [77/233], were bequeathed by Miss Ellis on the condition that they were not to be separated. She had purchased them from a gentleman some years earlier who had stipulated the same- that they should not be separated- and Miss Ellis followed this in her Will.
Physical description
1 chair: wood; good conditionThe Comb-back is so called because the horizontal 'crest' rail at the top of the chair, into which the sticks are socketed, was said to resemble the spine of a comb with the sticks acting as its teeth!.
Label Text
5. Comb-back Windsor chair. Nineteenth century comb-back Windsor chair, one of a pair that were bequeathed to the Museum of English Rural Life in 1977. Its pair is numbered 77/233. Both chairs can be seen in the Museum's permanent exhibition gallery, 'Farmer's Parlour'. 77/234.10. Comb-back Windsor chair. Nineteenth century comb-back Windsor chair, one of a pair that were bequeathed to the Museum of English Rural Life in 1977. Its pair is numbered 77/233. Both chairs can be seen in the Museum's permanent exhibition gallery, 'Farmer's Parlour'. The Windsor chair: an illustrated history of a classic English chair by Ivan Sparkes, 1975. 77/234.
Archival history
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'Chair- comb back // Miss S. L. M. Ellis, Cliff Road, Hornsea, Essex // Description: Polished wood. Legs splayed. Wide seat. Arms run right round backcarried on 18 supports. The crest is carried on 8 supports plus a plat central piece of wood ornatelt carved and pierced. // Associated information: Left to the museum by Miss Ellis on the understanding that the chair will not be seperated from it pair 77/234. The early Windsor chairs were made to the comb-back design in which the backstands and sticks are fixed into the se4at at the bottom and socketed into a rail or comb at the top...The shape of the back strongly resembled a hay rake or wide toothed comb, hence the nickname; it was in vogue from c.1700-1800 and then again, in a heavier design, from 1830-1900.
Object name
Material
Associated subject
External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_16809.tif - High resolution image
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_16807.tif - High resolution image
