http://www.pashutler.org.uk en-gb pashutler.org.uk 2010-7-15T00:00:00Z pashutler.org.uk http://www.pashutler.org.uk/page5.htm#69410 The humble yet beautiful armchair from the Sussex Rush Seated range was retailed by Morris amp Company from around 1860 well into the 20th century. The design is widely attributed to Philip Webb and they were probably manufactured by a High Wycombe maker for retail at Morris amp Cos London showroom. The range of chairs quickly became famous and were regarded as an icon of artistic taste they were found in the homes of many artists from Burne Jones to Alfred Gilbert. With fame comes imitation rival retailers such as Libertys Hamptons and Heals all sold their own versions none of which quite compared to the Morris amp Co versions. There is one simple way to identify a genuine Morris and Co armchair. The spindle design shown above is the only design used by Morris and Company if a chair doesnt have them its an imposter Paul 2010-7-2T00:00:00Z http://www.pashutler.org.uk/page5.htm#65057 An article written for the 2010 Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies has now been published follow this link to read an extract and buy the Journal. httpappraiserworkshops.blogspot.com201005importanceofprovenance.htmlutmsourcefeedburneramputmmediumemailamputmcampaignFeed3AAppraiserWorkshops28AppraiserWorkshops29 Enjoy P 2010-5-11T00:00:00Z http://www.pashutler.org.uk/page5.htm#60917 What makes one of these chairs worth considerably more than the other Courtesy of Sothebys amp Paul Reeves. Courtesy of a Private Collection London. The chair on the left would retail in excess of 16315000 and the chair on the right for a mere 1632000. So why the big difference both are of equal quality and dimensions. The right hand chair has a lower stretcher than the left hand chair its a simple as that. In 1977 Art Furniture from designs by E.W.Godwin was published the designs were made by the cabinet maker William Watt of London. Plate no. 15 of this catalogue shows Godwins design for an armchair below. This chair is known as the Old English or Jacobean Armchair. Godwin designed the chair with the stretchers high up under the seat. Today only a handful of chairs are known that follow the designers drawing exactly whereas numerous examples of the chair on the right exist this is reflected in the retail value... 2010-3-19T00:00:00Z http://www.pashutler.org.uk/page5.htm#52311 This question not only applies to chairs but to all antiques. When you buy antique furniture or works of art with provenance you dont only buy four legs and a seat you buy your very own piece of history. Sure the identical self made furniture from the catalogue is fine for bookshelves or to hold a dusty collection of DVDs if you need to I have eight huge bookcases straining to hold my ever increasing library. Im not ashamed theyre useful Useful they are but theyre souless too cold and dead straight from the box their only mystery being assembly. In their life all they have seen is me standing in front of them head down totally oblivious of them and when I move house theyll no doubt fall apart and then be replaced having only known someone who ignored them. Antiques are different standing only a few inches from the bookcases is an armchair designed by arguably the most important gothic architect to the arts and crafts movement and made for his most important commission The Law Cour... 2009-11-10T00:00:00Z http://www.pashutler.org.uk/page5.htm#49163 Often my clients come to me for advice when considering purchasing an item from another dealer or at auction in some cases they are interested in objects described by the seller as rare or extremely rare or extremely rare and highly important. So I decided to include my repeated response in the blog Ask the seller why they think the object is rare In most cases I can explain instantly why something may or may not be rare certainly if I was describing something as rare I would make sure I could do this. Its worth remembering that if something is rare it may be simply because the maker decided not to continue making an object because it just wasnt very pleasing meaning not all rare objects are good objects. Something might be considered rare because a fixed number of them are known to have been made but how high can this number go It is a known fact that Gerald Summers made only 120 onepiece plywood chairs of circa 19334 does this make them rare It could be considered important ... 2009-9-21T00:00:00Z http://www.pashutler.org.uk/page5.htm#47098 Having read through countless books and catalogues viewed many sales and visited numerous houses I have noticed a trend all attribute a type of chair with a distinctive ladder back as a Clissett chair but why The story of the chair begins with John Kerry 18201861 of Evesham Worcestershire routinely making ash armchairs fig 1 with the distinctive ladders stamping them KERRY EVESHAM. It was not until 1886 that the Scottish architect James Maclaren 18521890 suggested an alteration to Phillip Clissetts 18171913 standard Ash and Elm spindle back chair fig 2 his suggestions incorporated the ladders from the earlier chair produced by the Kerry family. It is thought that the resulting design was then produced by Clissett and shown to the Art Workers Guild through Maclaren. fig 1 The English Regional Chair 1990 Dr B. Cotton page 294 fig 2 The English Regional Chair 1990 Dr B. Cotton page 293 From the late 1880s a short backed version ... 2009-8-18T00:00:00Z http://www.pashutler.org.uk/page5.htm#46270 Following a recent discussion with a Sally Anne Huxtable of the Dallas Museum of Art about The Gertrude Jekyll flower vase in our current stock I decided to start a blog. I quote Sally The vase is quite fantastic and is obviously the Grandmother of contemporary mass produced vase design She is right the vase was designed circa 1885 but is comparable to a Scandanavian example circa 2009 mentioning no names. With a huge following Gertrude Jekyll is known as the finest and most influential arts and crafts garden designer to live. She is famous for her waves of colour planting schemes but it seems she should now be known for her ability to design simple vases that display fine blooms effeciently enough to stand the test of modern fickle fashions and time...124 years to be precise. Something to think about Paul 2009-8-4T00:00:00Z