Chair of the Month for March is even smaller than last month’s Chair of the Month!

It’s a miniature chair about 6cm high, made by High Wycombe manufacturer Nicholls and Janes in 1922. It’s a duplicate of the furniture set they made for the Queen Mary Doll’s House, which is displayed at Windsor Castle.

Nicholls and Janes took over the buildings of Widgington’s, the first factory in High Wycombe, and number 3 of the 8 sites on our ‘Here, Chair & Everywhere’ heritage walking trail. See Chairmaking Town Trail • Wycombe Museum for more information on the trail and to download a guide.

The guide includes more information on Nicholls and Janes, Widgington and other important town centre furniture sites. Look out for the new trail boards in town, including the former Nicholls and Janes site near Bucks New University.

Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum and the Regional Furniture Society.

Our Chair of the Month for February is this beautiful child’s chair made in Rockley, Nottinghamshire around 1835-1850. It is just 68cm high and is made from yew, elm and ash woods. At first glance it looks very like Windsor chairs from the High Wycombe area. Without the ‘Nicholson Rockley’ stamp behind the seat, how could we know that it was not local to High Wycombe? There are some design differences to look out for.

The easiest to spot is that with chairs from Nottinghamshire, the bow back (curved back piece) tapers before it joins the arm or seat. In chairs from High Wycombe, it doesn’t. Compare this chair to our Chair of the Month from October 2024 to see what we mean.

Learn more about how to identify locally made Windsor chairs as well as other ‘Chair Expert’ tips in Wycombe Museum’s recently upgraded Chair Galleries.

Chair of the Month for December is this church chair. It was made for Birmingham Cathedral by Glenisters of High Wycombe in about 1865. It has a book rack, hassock (kneeler) rack, hat, and umbrella rack.

 This chair can be seen in the Chair Lab, in the chair galleries at Wycombe Museum

Chair of the Month for November was made by Robert Prior of Uxbridge, around 1820-1840. It is one of a set of five – one armchair and four ‘side’ chairs. They all have triple splats with Prince of Wales feather designs, and all use best yew-wood with elm seats.

This chair can be seen in the Art Gallery at Wycombe Museum.

Watch this space for news on our planned new chair store which will be open to visitors to explore.

Chair of the Month for October is the Jessop Chair.

It is a typical Wycombe-made Wheelback Windsor chair, made in about 1840. It has an elm seat, beech legs and ash bow. Unusually, it has a label under the seat with the retailer’s name – A Jessop. Ann Jessop was a retailer based in Sheffield in the 1840s. This char is one of many that was made in High Wycombe but sold much further away. Traveling salesmen, took chairs on heavily laden wagons from Wycombe factories to shops and retailers in the midlands and north.

This chair can be seen in the history galleries at Wycombe Museum. It is Object 8 in ‘A History of Wycombe in 10 Objects’.

Chair of the Month for September is this scroll back Windsor armchair.

The type of 3 ring turning on the leg dates it to about 1870-1900. At some point in its history, it was painted white, and then later stripped. Traces of the white paint remain.

In the collection at Wycombe Museum there are even more wonderful chairs than we are able to display at any one time. This chair, together with many others in Wycombe Museum’s collection has been stored in poor environmental conditions which resulted in a small proportion of chairs developing surface mould growth.

We are grateful to have received grant funding from the Regional Furniture Society, Heart of Bucks, and additional support from Buckinghamshire Council. This means that our stored collection has now been removed from the damp stores, slowly dried, and cleaned.  Our fabulous chairs and the rest of our stored collection continues to be preserved for future generations to enjoy!

Watch this space for news on our planned new chair store which will be open to visitors to explore.

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. 

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.