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.

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/

Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum www.wycombemuseum.org and the Regional Furniture Society https://regionalfurnituresociety.org

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 December is this Wheelback Windsor armchair, made in the High Wycombe area, about 1800-1830. Made from various local woods, including cherry wood, elm, ash, beech and yew. 

By the early 1800s, Windsor chair making had become centred on High Wycombe. Wheelback Windsor chairs like this one were made in large numbers. The various timbers have been carefully chosen for the chair part that suits it best. For example, cherry and yew woods are used decoratively on the front legs and in the centre of the wheel in the back. Elm is used for the seat because it was available in wide planks and has an attractive grain pattern. The bow (hoop) is made from ash which bends well without splitting. The back legs are made from beech, which was cheaper and more readily available than cherry wood. 

This chair is on display in Wycombe Museum’s ‘Our Place Exhibition’ until 10 March 2024. Information about Wycombe Museum’s exhibitions can be found here Exhibitions | Wycombe Museum Official Site

Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum wycombemuseum.org.uk and the Regional Furniture Society regional furnituresociety.org

November’s chair of the month is this ‘Q – Stack’ chair, designed by Robin Day of High Wycombe in about 1953 and manufactured by Hille in London. 

In the 1950s, new ways of constructing chairs were made possible by new materials such as plastic, plywood and tubular steel. This chair uses plywood, with tubular steel legs held on by two bolts. It has a hand grip in the back, so that it can be easily carried. Unlike traditional chairs, several of these chairs can be stacked on top of each other when not being used. It was designed as a low-cost space-saver for meeting places, cafes, halls, and homes. 

It is currently on display in Wycombe Museum’s Chair Galleries. 

Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum wycombemuseum.org.uk and the Regional Furniture Society regional furnituresociety.org

Chair of the Month for October is the Wycombe Pitt Chair, a Windsor armchair made by John Pitt in the 1740s. It is made from beech with walnut arm-bow, fruitwood legs and elm seat. The maker of this early Windsor chair was John Pitt, wheel maker and Windsor chair maker. He lived in the hamlet of Upton-cum-Chalvey, which is now part of Slough. The chair is painted with the coat of arms of the City of Bath. Upton-Cum-Chalvey was on the main road from London to Bath. 

The Wycombe Pitt chair was bought for the museum with the help of The Art Fund, The V&A Purchase Fund and The Beecroft Bequest. 

An article about John Pitt was published by the Regional Furniture Society in 2005. You can read it here.

You can see this chair in Wycombe Museum’s ‘Our Place Exhibition’, until 10 March 2024. Information about Wycombe Museum’s exhibitions can be found here Exhibitions | Wycombe Museum Official Site

Chair of the Month is a partnership between Wycombe Museum wycombemuseum.org.uk and the Regional Furniture Society regional furnituresociety.org