I've been in the antiques trade for over thirty years and owned an antiques and restoration business in Somerset prior to moving to Australia in 1992.
I have had the great pleasure of handling and selling some very fine British antique Windsor chairs over the years. My hobby is making furniture and I have made many Windsor chairs following various provincial styles, but I never actually kept one for myself. My timing is appalling, I know, but after I retired, an irresistible urge developed to make myself a stylish Windsor, but I don't have the facilities I once had to produce all the components of the chair.
I wanted a big bold chair that would make a powerful statement yet compliment other furniture and antiques in our home. I had a look through the renowned bible of English vernacular seating by Bernard D. Cotton, The English Regional Chair. However, I didn't see exactly what I wanted.
I recently purchased an excellent new book simply titled Windsor Chairs by Michael Harding-Hill, an established English dealer specialising in Windsors. Therein I found the precise style of chair I was yearning for; a double bow elbow chair with four cabriole legs, made in the Thames Valley region in the last quarter of the eighteenth century.
There is a Windsor chairmaker in the next village to the one I lived in before I emigrated, so I contacted Carl at Holland Chairs in Martock (in Yandles yard?) and asked him if he would make a chair of the style I had decided on. He quoted me ₤980 for the chair plus shipping and a couple of weeks later I received a few photos of my new chair, dry-assembled, and ready for shipment to Australia.
Carl was obviously very pleased with the chair as he placed the three photos on his web site:
To save on the cost of shipping (and also because I relished assembling the chair myself), I asked Carl to send the chair flat-packed. Carl assured me the chair had been fine sanded and all I then needed to do was to glue, assemble and polish the chair.
My Windsor chair finally arrived here on Thursday 16th of October. I opened the crate with huge anticipation. I was utterly appalled by what I saw. Every component – with the possible exception of the back bow - is simply unacceptable.
You can judge for yourself if the chair is acceptable.
I emailed him the instant I finished unwrapping the contents of the packing case (Thursday 16th of October) asking that he contact me ASAP to discuss the matter, but he didn't respond in his normally prompt manner. I sent the same message by airmail on Saturday and I've still heard nothing back from him.
It could be Carl's away, but being a business, I would have expected to receive an 'out of office' notification by return if he was absent from work. I tried phoning him, but with no luck. I shall try again shortly (we're ten hours ahead of GMT at present).
Does anyone here know of Holland Chairs? Are they still trading?
Any help or advice at this point would be much appreciated!
I have had the great pleasure of handling and selling some very fine British antique Windsor chairs over the years. My hobby is making furniture and I have made many Windsor chairs following various provincial styles, but I never actually kept one for myself. My timing is appalling, I know, but after I retired, an irresistible urge developed to make myself a stylish Windsor, but I don't have the facilities I once had to produce all the components of the chair.
I wanted a big bold chair that would make a powerful statement yet compliment other furniture and antiques in our home. I had a look through the renowned bible of English vernacular seating by Bernard D. Cotton, The English Regional Chair. However, I didn't see exactly what I wanted.
I recently purchased an excellent new book simply titled Windsor Chairs by Michael Harding-Hill, an established English dealer specialising in Windsors. Therein I found the precise style of chair I was yearning for; a double bow elbow chair with four cabriole legs, made in the Thames Valley region in the last quarter of the eighteenth century.
There is a Windsor chairmaker in the next village to the one I lived in before I emigrated, so I contacted Carl at Holland Chairs in Martock (in Yandles yard?) and asked him if he would make a chair of the style I had decided on. He quoted me ₤980 for the chair plus shipping and a couple of weeks later I received a few photos of my new chair, dry-assembled, and ready for shipment to Australia.
Carl was obviously very pleased with the chair as he placed the three photos on his web site:
To save on the cost of shipping (and also because I relished assembling the chair myself), I asked Carl to send the chair flat-packed. Carl assured me the chair had been fine sanded and all I then needed to do was to glue, assemble and polish the chair.
My Windsor chair finally arrived here on Thursday 16th of October. I opened the crate with huge anticipation. I was utterly appalled by what I saw. Every component – with the possible exception of the back bow - is simply unacceptable.
You can judge for yourself if the chair is acceptable.
I emailed him the instant I finished unwrapping the contents of the packing case (Thursday 16th of October) asking that he contact me ASAP to discuss the matter, but he didn't respond in his normally prompt manner. I sent the same message by airmail on Saturday and I've still heard nothing back from him.
It could be Carl's away, but being a business, I would have expected to receive an 'out of office' notification by return if he was absent from work. I tried phoning him, but with no luck. I shall try again shortly (we're ten hours ahead of GMT at present).
Does anyone here know of Holland Chairs? Are they still trading?
Any help or advice at this point would be much appreciated!
