Oak writing armchair with lattice back and rush seat
Sir Ambrose Heal (1872-1959)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1925
Materials
Wood and rush.
Measurements
80 x 64.5 x 55.2 cm; 46.8 cm (Depth)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Shaw's Corner, Hertfordshire
NT 1275653
Summary
Ambrose Heal writing chair. Semi-circular frame with shaped back splat and lattice design. Fixed rush seat with four slightly splayed legs and chamfered corners tied together by a cross stretcher. Described as a writing chair in Ambrose Heal catalogue.
Full description
The lattice back writing armchair designed by Sir Ambrose Heal circa 1925 relates to Bernard Shaw’s personal interest in the Arts & Crafts Movement, showcasing his socialistic principles in matters of design. The armchair is also remarkable in its own right being a rare model designed by Heal. The piece formed part of the indigenous collections at Shaw’s Corner assembled by Shaw and his wife Charlotte during the 1920s, and was part of the original core collection bequeathed to the National Trust on Shaw’s death in 1950. The original armchair was sold by the National Trust at auction in 1954. This chair in the same design was acquired in 2017. The Shaws originally purchased the Arts and Crafts style oak rush-seated armchair in the mid-1920s. Known as a ‘writing chair’, the armchair appeared in the Heal’s catalogue of 1930 ‘A Matter of Taste in Furniture’ priced at £6-12-6, model no. C.1640. (Heal and Son, ‘A Matter of Taste in Furniture’, 1930, p.32). Photographs taken by Bernard Shaw of the garden at Shaw’s Corner in the 1920s reveal the existence of the chair: one image shows his friend the Austrian playwright Siegfried Trebitsch (his German translator), who is depicted standing next to the chair on the veranda when he visited Ayot in November 1927. (NT 1715506.14). The placement of the armchair on the veranda outside the dining room suggests that the chair formed part of the furnishings of one of the main public rooms on the ground floor, possibly the dining room, drawing room, or hall. However after charlotte’s death in 1943, it was probably moved by the housekeeper Mrs. Laden, as there are no rush-seated chairs listed in these rooms in the Shaw’s Corner Probate Inventory of January 1951. A decision was made by the Trust to sell certain items from the Shaw’s Corner collection in 1954, announced in the press as a sale of ‘George Bernard Shaw’s household possessions’. The auction took place on 14 January 1954, at Mandley & Sparrow Auctioneers, 38 Chequer Street, St. Albans. A press photograph of the auction room shows the Heal’s armchair suspended from the ceiling for viewing purposes prior to the sale in 1954. (Fox Photos, London; dated 14 January 1954. Shaw’s Corner Collection). Throughout their married life the Shaws had an account at the Heal’s shop at Tottenham Court Road, and Charlotte’s diaries record frequent visits there, some trips made with Shaw. They had previously purchased Shaw’s oak bed (NT1274869.1-2) before the move to Shaw’s Corner, designed by Ambrose Heal in 1898. Shaw felt that the products of Heal’s were not only ‘artistic’ but socially progressive because the firm operated on a more commercial level than other craftsmen associated with the Arts and Crafts, offering quality and value for money. The furniture was useful, beautiful and affordable. Thus Heal came close to fulfilling William Morris’s ideal of honest craftsmanship at reasonable prices. Heal, like Shaw, was strongly influenced by Morris, and believed in producing simple, useful furniture to high standards. Charlotte’s personal papers at the British Library also reveal that she had shares in Heal & Son Limited. (British Library Add. MSS 63198 B-C). (Alice McEwan, 2020)
Provenance
Purchased by the National Trust in 2017 to replace the original chair that was sold in 1954.
Makers and roles
Sir Ambrose Heal (1872-1959), designer Heals, manufacturer