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.