At West Dean College, West Dean, Chichester, West Sussex. PO18 0QZ 13th July 2026 at 7.30pm.
Same but Different: American Furniture and their British Antecedents
An exploration of American furniture from the colonial period through the early Republic, tracing its roots in the furniture-making traditions of Great Britain. Examining how English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish design influences were adapted by American craftsmen to suit regional tastes, available materials, and the practical realities of everyday life in America. With a special focus on the vernacular acclimatization of British styles and forms in the American backcountry, along with a comparison of paralleling German and French influences.
The McDowell Family, August Co., Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Queen Anne walnut dressing table, circa 1760.
Jeffrey S. Evans, President, Senior Auctioneer and Specialist, Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Inc., Mt. Crawford, Virginia.
The 42nd Annual General Meeting of the Regional Furniture Society will be held in the Old Library at West Dean College, near Chichester, Sussex and via Zoom on Thursday 16th July 2026 at 10.30 a.m.
The Agenda, the Minutes of the AGM held in 2025, the Annual Report & Accounts for 2025 and the Social Media Policy have been posted on the website here and will be available at the Conference/AGM.
Members who wish to take part in the AGM via Zoom should email the Acting Secretary on: hancockemm@gmail.com
The access code for the Zoom meeting, the Agenda, the Minutes of the AGM held in 2025, and the Annual Report & Accounts for 2025 will be forwarded a week before the meeting.
The Annual Report and Accounts for 2025 can also be sent to any member requiring a paper version. They should contact the Acting Secretary to request a copy and should send an A4 self-addressed envelope.
The agenda for 16 July 2026 is to be found here. The Minutes of the 2025 AGM are here. The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025 are here. The Social Media Policy is here.
The 2026 conference will be held at West Dean College, near Chichester. Accommodation will be in single and double, en-suite student accommodation. The conference package includes an evening meal on Monday 13th July, breakfast, lunch and dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday plus breakfast on Thursday. There will be a more formal dinner on Tuesday evening. All meals will be at West Dean College except on Wednesday when there will be a packed lunch. In the unlikely event of costs exceeding estimates, the Society may need to levy a surcharge of no more than £50 per person nearer the event.
The programme begins on Monday afternoon with a tour of the Mary Rose at Portsmouth Historic Dockyards and a talk by the Collections Manager focusing on furniture and wooden artifacts. On Tuesday we have a morning visit to the Weald and Downland Museum. In the afternoon at West Dean College, there will be a symposium exploring vernacular chairs made in Sussex and the origins of the Morris designs retailed as ‘Sussex’ chairs. Speakers at this event will be Janet Pennington, Guy Poulter and John Boram.
On Wednesday we will be on a coach tour for the day, visiting Standen, an Arts and Crafts House in East Grinstead with its original furnishings and collection of Morris Sussex chairs; Parham House, a fine Elizabethan house sensitively restored and furnished with an eclectic mix of furniture and an important textile collection; St Peter’s Church at Parham and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Warminghurst.
Standen from the garden
On Thursday there will be an opportunity in the morning to view the furniture conservation workshops at West Dean and the extensive grounds before the AGM and furniture surgery in the Old Library.
The booking form is here. Please return the form to RFS Events Team by email: events.rfs@gmail.com by March 15th 2026. You will be notified by March 30th if you have a place and payment will be required at that point.
The agenda for 6 July 2025 is to be found here. The Minutes of the 2024 AGM are here. The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 are here.
This year we are again going to offer the possibility of joining the AGM by Zoom.
The Annual General Meeting of the Regional Furniture Society will be held at the University of Kent, Canterbury in the Rutherford College Building and via Zoom on Sunday 30 June at 9:00 a.m.
The Agenda, the Minutes of the AGM held in 2023 and the Annual Report & Accounts for 2023 will be posted on the website in the next few days, as well as being available at the Conference/AGM on 30 June.
Members who wish to take part in the AGM via Zoom should email the Secretary on: justj2r2@gmail.com
The Secretary will then forward to those members the access code for the Zoom meeting, the Agenda, the Minutes of the AGM held in 2023, and the Annual Report & Accounts for 2023. This will be done a week before the meeting.
The Annual Report and Accounts for 2023 can also be sent to any member requiring a paper version. They should contact the Secretary to request a copy and should send an A4 self-addressed envelope.
Special Collections at University of Leeds Libraries & Leeds Museums & Galleries
CALL FOR PAPERS
What is Furniture History?
Thursday 6th June – Friday 7th June 2024
University of Leeds (& online)
Henry Lawford The cabinet of practical, useful and decorative furniture designs (1855). Image copyright, the University of Leeds Libraries
The history of furniture remains one of the dominant areas of interest within the history of the so-called ‘Decorative Arts’. Since it emerged in the 19th century, scholarship focused on furniture history has expanded far beyond the interests of its earlier pioneers, transforming furniture history as a discipline. This 2-day symposium, developed as part of the exhibition ‘Part of the Furniture: The Library of John Bedford’ (Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery, University of Leeds, 9th January-21st December 2024), and in collaboration with Temple Newsam, Leeds, seeks to explore furniture history as a subject and to reflect on what furniture history of the future might look like.
We invite submissions for papers on themes related to the history of furniture, focused on any period, any geography, from scholars, museum professionals, collectors, dealers, and furniture makers. We invite papers through any lens, including methodological papers on furniture history as method/approach, case studies on objects and collections, papers on furniture historians, as well as work-in-progress papers on possible futures for furniture history.
Contributions might address (not exhaustive):
The history of furniture history
Furniture historians
Publications of furniture history
The sources and materials of furniture history
Furniture collections in museum/historic houses
Collectors and collecting furniture
Studies of individual examples of furniture
Studies of types of furniture
Furniture dealers; the market for furniture
Societies and communities of furniture enthusiasts
The themes of furniture history (style, biography, material, geography etc)
Furniture history of the future
Papers should be 20 minutes in length; participation can be in-person or online (Microsoft TEAMS).
The symposium programme will include facilitated tours at Temple Newsam (part of Leeds Museums & Galleries) to explore the world class furniture collections at the house. As well as an opportunity to see extra materials from the collection of John Bedford at the University.
DEADLINE for submission for proposals (c.200 words) is – MONDAY 15th April 2024 to (m.w.westgarth@leeds.ac.uk). Successful speakers will be notified by FRIDAY 26th April 2024.
Speakers – Free
Conference delegates (in person) £25 per person (2 days) £15 per person (1 day), includes refreshments and lunch and transport to Temple Newsam. Online delegates – Free.
NB: The RFS is pleased to support the costs of attending the What is Furniture History conference in person, for five early career professionals in the field or students (part- or full-time). This special event bursary will cover the ticket fee (£25 two days/£15 one day) and UK travel costs (standard class rail or reasonable alternative) but not overnight accommodation. The bursary is open to existing or new RFS members. Non-members, please note: RFS annual membership costs only £28 by banker’s order (£20 for students) and includes numerous benefits, almost certainly much less than the cost of attending the conference without a bursary, so this may be a perfect opportunity to join the RFS.
Applicants should email the Grants and Bursaries Secretary Nick Humphrey nickhu@vam.ac.uk providing details of your early career professional post or course of study, and the attendance and travel costs you wish to claim. Successful applicants will be required to provide receipts for reimbursement. Applications will be dealt with on a First Come, First Served basis.
The Annual General Meeting of the Regional Furniture Society will be held at Bangor University in the Reichel Building on Sunday 9 July at 9:00 a.m.
The Agenda, the Minutes of the last AGM and the Annual Report & Accounts for 2022 will be posted on the website a week before the meeting, as well as being available at the Conference on 9 July.
The Annual Report and Accounts for 2022 can also be sent to any member requiring a paper version. They should contact the Secretary to request a copy and should send an A4 self-addressed envelope.
Regional Furniture Society Spring/Summer 2023 events are now open for booking.
Please apply for these events by 1st March, using the booking forms available to print from this site. Numbers for all events are limited and allocated in order of receipt. This website will be updated when an event becomes fully booked.
Hammersmith Riverside Arts & Crafts: Friday 21st April 2023
A day exploring the riverside between Hammersmith and Chiswick occupied by disciples of William Morris and later residents connected with the decorative arts. Starting around 11:00 at The William Morris Society at his home, Kelmscott House, Hammersmith Mall, followed by a tour of Emery Walker’s riverside home, largely unchanged since his death. We will lunch at a riverside pub or cafe (not included in the fee) continuing along Chiswick Mall to Fullers Brewery, founded in 1845, where we have the option of taking a guided tour ending with a tasting of Fullers ales. £25 for the morning, and £25 for the afternoon brewery tour, not including lunch. Book on this form.
Gillows and Lancaster: now postponed to Thursday 3 August 2023 (originally postponed to Tuesday 25th July 2023 from Thursday 11th May 2023)
A visit to the recently reopened Judges’ Lodgings Museum with its collection of Gillows furniture. We will also visit Lancaster Priory and take a tour of Lancaster Castle including Joseph Gandy’s spectacular Shire Hall, the courtroom, and the basement cells with nineteeth-century restraining chairs (additional fee) and the the Church of St John the Evangelist, recently reopened by the CCT following restoration from flood damage. £15 not including refreshments.
FURTHER UPDATE 14 March 2023: The Judges’ Lodgings in Lancaster have just announced a special exhibition in the summer. Our visit scheduled for 11th May first deferred to Tuesday 25th July, has now been postponed to Thursday 3 August 2023 so that members may meet the Curator. The extended closing date for applications remains June 1st. A revised booking form is available to download here, or you may wish to amend the green paper form enclosed with the latest newsletter.
John Parry’s Collection: Sunday 9th July 2023 (not 5th)
A visit to John Parry’s latest collection of furniture near Wrexham. The visit is timed to enable those travelling from the conference at Bangor to include it in their itinerary. Priority will be given to those attending the conference. No charge to those attending the conference. £10 for others. Book on the Conference booking form.
North Wales Conference, Bangor: Wednesday evening 5th – Sunday morning, 9th July 2023
Provisional programme: Travelling by coach over the three days, we will explore the coastal area around Bangor including Penrhryn Castle with its slate furniture, and Plas Mawr, Conway. Crossing over to Anglesey we will visit a Folk Museum and have been invited to view a private collection of furniture. The third day will take us eastwards to Gwydir Castle, recently reunited with its panelled rooms sold to Randolph Hurst, and visit a number of churches and chapels whose simple exteriors bely lavish interiors with good woodwork. The day will terminate at Plas Newydd, the eccentric home of the ‘Ladies of Llangollen’. Based at Bangor university, accommodation will be in single rooms. The fee includes all meals from Wednesday evening, with the possible exception of one lunch. £595, with a possible later surcharge of no more than £50. Book on the Conference booking form.
The 2023 RFS Conference is in the early stages of planning. We expect to be based at Bangor University, Caernarfonshire, commencing Wednesday evening 5 July 2023 and ending the Sunday morning 9 July 2023.
Regional Furniture Society 
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