522/2005

English Regional Chairs

Armchair with six arched ladders in the back, made from ash with a rush seat. The chair is stamped on the right back upright KERRY and on the rear of the left back upright KERRY. EVESHAM. The stamps refer to John Kerry (senior), recorded 1820, or John Kerry (junior), fl.1820-61, Evesham, Worcester. The date 1808 is carved on the rear of the left back upright.

chair
armchair

522/2005

Kerry family

fl.1820-1861

Evesham

Description (brief): Ladder back arm chair with rush seat
top ladder indented below in a way specific to maker, Kerry
Chair back: ladder back arm chair; turned back posts bent above seat level & with nipple finials & scribed ring; 6 graduated arched ladders, top one decoratively shaped below, others straight; top ladder indented below in a way specific to maker, Kerry
Splat type: -
Front legs: plain turned legs
Back legs: plain turned legs
Feet: continuous with leg
Stretcher detail: box form, type MM; double plain turned side stretchers
Front stretcher: single decoratively turned stretcher
Back stretcher: double plain turned stretchers
Arm: shaped, sawn & curved arms
Underarm supports: decoratively turned underarm support continuous with leg
Seat: rush seat with wooden edge strips missing

Height: 101.8mm

Label text for the exhibition The English Regional Chair, Geffrye Museum (15 February 2005–7 June 2005):
Armchair, six arched ladders in the back
Ash with rush seat, stamped on right back upright KERRY and on rear of left back upright KERRY. EVESHAM. Refers to John Kerry (senior), recorded 1820, or John Kerry (junior), fl.1820–61, Evesham, Worcester. The date 1808 is carved on the rear of the left back upright.
In the West Midlands tradition, chairs were turned in ash and made with either wooden or rush seats. Rushes were readily available from the nearby riverbanks. John Kerry senior was recorded as a wood turner and furniture dealer in Evesham in 1820, already aged 75. His nephew John took over the business and is last recorded working in 1854. A feature of their chairs is that the top ladder has a scroll shape to the lower edge while the others have a straight lower edge. Like many rush-seated chairs this one is missing the strips of wood which protect the edges of the rush seat.
Cotton Collection (wm20).