A diminutive West Country hoop-back chair hair, Probably Yealmpton, c. 1820

A charming and increasingly scarce West Country chair of smaller proportions (33 cm wide seat which is unusually narrow) retaining a good surface and traces of its original yellow painted finish. The chair appears to have been reduced in height at an early date, although whether it was originally made as a child’s chair or subsequently adapted from a small adult chair cannot now be determined with certainty.

Constructed in ash and elm, the chair has a continuous hand-bent hoop supporting eight hand-drawn spindles, each passing through and wedged into the hoop in the traditional manner. The seat is of generous thickness and retains its original saddle form, supported on turned legs united by simple stretchers. The restrained turning, with characteristic incised rings, together with the overall proportions, are entirely consistent with vernacular West Country production during the early nineteenth century.   It has acquired a deep, mellow surface through two centuries of use, beneath which survive widespread traces of its original yellow paint across the seat, hoop, legs and spindles. Later darker, but very old, paint has worn naturally over time, revealing the earlier paint  beneath. 

Bernard Cotton illustrates a closely comparable hoop-back Windsor chair in The English Regional Chair (Plate 37), describing it as “West Country, probably Yealmpton, c.1820.” That chair likewise retains its original yellow painted decoration with black detailing. While it is not possible to attribute the present chair to Yealmpton with certainty, the close similarities in construction, proportions, turning and surviving painted finish provide persuasive evidence for the same regional tradition.

Measuring:  74cm to hoop back, 30 cm to seat, 33 cm width of seat

West Country Devon - probably Yealmpton c. 1820