Ladderback chair
Edward Gardiner (1880 - 1958)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1940 - circa 1950
Materials
Oak, ash, rush
Measurements
101.5 x 42 x 40.5 cm
Place of origin
Priors Marston, Warwickshire
Collection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 608293.2.18
Summary
A rush-seated chair of oak and ash, one of a set of twenty-five, English, mid-20th century, made by Edward Gardiner (d. 1958) of Priors Marston, Warwickshire, after a design of Ernest Gimson (1864 - 1919). Having four shaped splats between turned uprights. The rush seat raised on four plainly turned legs joined by pairs of turned stretchers. -- Edward Gardiner (d. 1958) was encouraged by Ernest Gimson to take up chairmaking at his workshop in Daneway, Gloucestershire. Gardiner later moved to Priors Marston, Warwickshire. Lawrence Neal, the son of Gardiner's pupil Neville Neal (d. 2000), continues chairmaking today.
Provenance
Chairs ordered by Sir George Trevelyan, Principal of the Shropshire Adult Education College at Attingham Park, for use in the Students' Dining Room. A gift to the National Trust from the Shropshire Adult Education College when it left Attingham in the 1970s.
Makers and roles
Edward Gardiner (1880 - 1958), chairmaker