Chair of the Month for August is this upholstered ‘Toledo’ Chair made by Parker Knoll in about 1951.
Unusually, it has a metal frame which has been made to look like wood. This was because of because of timber shortages following the Second World War.
Parker Knoll were formed when Frederick Parker, who had been making furniture since 1898, went into partnership with Willi Knoll in 1929. Parker had been one of the first High Wycombe factories to make upholstered furniture. Knoll had invented a new form of sprung furniture with a coiled steel wire on both the seat and the back. Parker Knoll quickly became a household name. Production moved out of High Wycombe in the 1990s.
You can see this chair in Wycombe Museum’s newly refurbished chair galleries, which are now fully open.
Chair of the Month for July is a Windsor armchair, made by William Birch in about 1904.
This unusually decorative Windsor chair is made from mahogany, an imported timber not usually used in the High Wycombe furniture industry. It was made for the St Louis World’s Fair, in Missouri, United States. The Fair was held in 1904 and showed products from over 60 countries. Nearly 19.7 million people attended.
William Birch traded from about the 1840s or ‘50s until 1954. In 1901 they opened a new, large modern factory in Leigh Street on the west side of High Wycombe. Birch were taken over by E Gomme in 1954, who were ready to expand after launching their successful G-Plan range.
You can see this chair in Wycombe Museum’s newly refurbished chair galleries, which are now fully open.
Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum and the Regional Furniture Society.
Chair of the month for June is the AD Chair by Tom Rawlings, for William Hands, oak with upholstered seat. Designed in 2016 and first made in 2017, this chair retails as the ‘Broadway Chair. A range of different heights were introduced in 2018 to extend the range.
This chair has been loaned by William Hands to our temporary exhibition ‘The Art of the Chair’, which can be seen until 2 Feb 2025.
Wycombe Museum is working with local furniture producers and other partners on the Chilterns Chairs Festival. The festival takes place throughout July with events and family fun to celebrate the unique chairmaking heritage of Wycombe and the local area. Visit Wycombe Museum’s website for more information www.wycombemuseum.org.uk. The Chilterns Chairs Festival is being organised by Wycombe Museum and is funded by the Chalk, Cherries & Chairs Landscape Partnership. CCC is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is hosted by the Chilterns National Landscape.
Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum and the Regional Furniture Society.
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, 9 January – 21 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.
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.
The symposium programme includes a facilitated tour 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.
Bookings details and the conference programme are in this link.
Chair of the month for May is this salesman’s miniature chair. It was made in about 1865, probably by Glenister’s. It is quarter sized, about 42 cm high.
Victorian chair salesmen often took miniature chairs like this with them on their journeys. They set out with wagon loads of furniture to sell and miniature chairs to show what else could be ordered. After about 1870, when printed pictures of chairs were used instead, the small chairs were not usually thought to be worth keeping. This one was rescued from a bonfire, and eventually given to Wycombe Museum.
You can see this chair and find out more about how chairs were marketed in our temporary exhibition ‘The Art of the Chair’ until 2 Feb 2025.
Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum and the Regional Furniture Society.
Chair of the month for April is a World War 2 Utility chair. It was made by E Gomme of High Wycombe under the World War 2 furniture rationing known as Utility. Between 1942 and 1952, only designs agreed by the government Board of Trade could be made. These designs made the most of limited raw materials.
Two local furniture makers were on the board that designed Utility furniture – Herbert Cutler of High Wycombe Technical College, and Edwin Clinch of Wycombe furniture factory, Goodearl Brothers.
After the War, E Gomme would go on to launch G-Plan furniture.
You can see this chair and find out more about chair design and marketing in Wycombe Museum’s exhibition, ‘The Art of the Chair’ until 2 Feb 2025.
Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum and the Regional Furniture Society.
This month’s chair has been selected by the Museum’s new Assistant Curator who is working on an exciting project to make the collection artefacts in our stores easier to visit, study and enjoy. We’ll keep you updated with more news on this over the coming weeks…
In the meantime, Chair of the Month for March is one of around 300 chairs we have in storage. It is a bow back Windsor armchair with a pierced central splat (the bit in the middle of the seat back). It was made by Jack Goodchild in around 1946. Jack initially trained as a bottomer (the person who makes the chair seat) but later changed to making whole chairs at his workshop in Naphill. He was one of the last local chair craftsmen and died in 1950.
You can find more photos of Jack and his work on the SWOP website. https://swop.org.uk/
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.
Does this bring back memories of the Swinging Sixties?
Chair of the Month for February is this wonderful GoGo chair, designed by Robert Bennett for Evans of High Wycombe. Evans have been making bespoke sofas and chairs since 1958, and the GoGo reflects their innovative and experimental designs of the time which used new materials and styles, such as this blue vinyl, bucket-shaped chair.
Robert Bennett was a local furniture designer whose career also saw him designing pieces for another local company, Gomme Ltd, as part of their renowned G-Plan range.
You can see this chair in our temporary exhibition ‘Our Place’ until 10 March 2024.Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum www.wycombemuseum.org and the Regional Furniture Society https://regionalfurnituresociety.org
Chair of the Month for January is for anyone who has made a New Year’s Resolution to have better posture!
Made in about 1790, it is a type of child’s chair known as a deportment chair or correction chair. The high, narrow, shiny seat meant that there was no slouching– or the child would slide off!
You can see this chair in Wycombe Museum’s permanent galleries.
Regional Furniture Society 
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