An Arts & Crafts Lakes School English Oak Chair by Stanley Webb Davies 1929. A very rare an attractive set of 6 matching chairs from this exceptional Arts and Crafts maker, showing the elegant simplicity of design and standard of materials and construction expected. The early date, the absence of another makers motif and the similarity to a chair he made for his wife (Stanley Webb Davies 1894 - 1978, Arts and Crafts Furniture Maker by Hugh Wright, Bookcase 2006 page 104) suggest that these were made by Stanley Davies himself.. Featuring:

• chamfered top rail and chip carving to the underside

• Leather latticework drop in seat pads

• Square tapering legs joined by an h-stretcher showing a through tenon

• Three slats in th backs

• Traditional blind tenons secured with hand made pegs.

• Solid English Oak throughout.

• Solid English Oak throughout (quarter-sawing is a way of sawing oak to produce boards with superior strength which also reveals decorative 'medullary rays' in its grain.)

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Height 960mm (3 feet 1 3/4 inch)

• Overall Width 480mm (1 foot 6 3/4 inches)

• Overall Depth 500mm (1 foot 7 1/2 inches)

• Seat Height 445mm (1 foot 5 1/2 inches) [A standard height for a dining table]

1929

Expertly carved Stanley Webb Davies motif and date of 1929 on each chair. These chairs also

Very good condition, with tight joints, excellent colour and finish and sound leather on the seat pads. One histori repair on one of the front rails (shown in a photo), some of the tenon pegs look like they may have been replaced, expected minor knocks and scuffs in places, and the leather strap work has be replaced (to a high standard).. If you wish to have further specific photographs or talk to us for a more detailed condition report then please do not hesitate to contact us.

An outstanding furniture workshop and one of the premier makers of top class Arts and Crafts furniture. He designed pieces in the Cotswold School style, which were all individually hand made, with decorative trademarks features including exposed pegged joints, alternating thumb nail chisels and rounded tops. Materials, workmanship and design are always of the exceptional quality. Stanley Webb Davies items very rarely come onto the market

The most British of woods, that can produce really special results. English oak has been used for hundreds of years to construct everything from sea-going vessels to fine furniture. Although oak grows widely across Europe and North America, craftsmen continue to cherish English oak which grows more slowly than its foreign counterparts giving it strength, durability. Quarter sawn boards are very straight grained and have distinctive growth rings and medullary rays that give a very beautiful effect as well as being renowned for their superior stability and strength

The Arts & Crafts Lakes School was a development of the Arts and Craft Cotswold School. The most significant designers and makers were Arthur Simpson, in Kendal, Stanley Webb Davies at Windermere and the Keswick School of Industrial Arts. Peter Hall of Staveley still produces furniture in this tradition. The Lakes School maintained the ideals with its simple lines, attention to the finest of details, the use of beautiful locally materials and the focus traditional tools and techniques. In fact Stanley Webb Davies' workshop didn't use any power tools at all, even to cut logs from timber! The dominant material was English Oak and typical decorative details often include exposed joints and subtle carved details