W & W Antiques

Email: wallsandwalls@btinternet.com
Web site: https://www.wandwantiques.com/

19th Century Irish country / vernacular hedge chair from Co. Antrim

£745.00 Approx $939.47, €869.31, £745

Code: 10383

Dimensions:

W: 51cm (20.1")H: 78cm (30.7")D: 34cm (13.4")



For sale is a very charismatic Irish Hedge chair from County Antrim, Northern Ireland likely from the second half of the 19th Century or early 20th Century.

- This Northern Irish hedge chair* is one with a characteristic composite seat construction.
- The backrest/rail is curved with the 5 spindles through tenoned and wedged above.
- Predominantly made of Ash with a thin pine board seat and decorative and attractive splatter / remnant paint.
- The seat being comprised of four thick pieces of wood, joined by mortise and tenon wedged joints and a thin pine plank seat board 
- The turned ash legs and spindles are all through wedged into the thickest part of the seat and splayed
- This little hedge chair has been of value to owner(s) and lived a life of considerable utility.
- The chair has had historic woodworm, evidence of a number of paint splatter colours as shown in the images.  Painting is especially common on Irish vernacular country-made furniture and houses for protection and longevity and this chair has seen a life of utility. 
- It is identified** that similar to the more primitive Scottish crofter made chairs from Sutherland/Caithness and the west coast (The Northern Tradition of Scottish crofter made chairs***) the Northern Irish chairs of County Antrim and County Derry also overcame a lack of readily available large-dimension timber, capitalising on what was available in terms of material and their economic use to construct a functional and utilitarian vernacular chair.  It is also recognised that maritime links between the north of Scotland and the port of Derry may have influenced similarities in design

A beautiful country-made vernacular Irish hedge chair from the 19th Century

 Reference:
*Ulster Folk Museum contains similar examples
** Kinmonth, C. (2020) Irish Country Furniture and furnishings 1700-2000. Cork University Press.
***Ross Noble, R. (1987) The chairs of Sutherland and Caithness: A Northern Tradition in Highland chair-making.  The Regional Furniture Society, Vol 1.

The early 19th Century Irish coopers box, hedge armchair and stoneware beer bottle are not included in this sale and are for context and scale only. Please contact us for shipping/postage in relation to multiple items.

Free delivery to the UK mainland as priced. International buyers are welcome, but please contact us prior to payment to confirm the additional packaging, insurance and shipping costs by way of acceptance to your country. Purchaser responsible for local import tariffs/fees.  If you are interested in multiple items, please contact us for combined postage.