An Arts & Crafts Yorkshire School English Oak Chair by Robert 'Kingpost' Ingham c. 1970. A pleasing simple classic Yorkshire School style design. Featuring:

• Solid English Oak throughout.

• Open backs with shaped and arched rails.

• Square section legs joined by h-stretchers.

• Fixed studded seat pads.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Height 850mm (2 feet 9 1/4 inches).

• Seat Height 460mm (1 foot 6 inches) [A standard height for a dining table].

• Overall Width 430mm (1 foot 4 3/4 inches).

• Overall Width (Carvers) 630mm (2 feet and 3/4 of an inch).

• Overall Depth 450mm (1 foot 5 1/2 inches).

c. 1970.

A known Kingpost design. For a marked example of this design see Sworders Auctioneers Design sale 25 Oct 2022, Lot 127.

Good sound condition with clean solid seat pads, tight joint sand original finish. One chair has a cross stretcher missing, but this does not effect its stability in normal use., A few marks and dints discoverable upon close inspection, as expected with an item that has been in use for 50 or so years. If you wish to have further specific photographs or talk to us for a more detailed condition report then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Robert 'Kingpost' Ingham: An early Yorkshire School cabinet maker who traded from Burton Leonard near Harrogate until the late 1950s, before retiring and selling most of the business to Alan Grainger to found Acorn Industries. Unlike many later 'Critters', Ingham was not a former Mouseman craftsman, but used the same techniques, quality of material and design ideas. Items are marked with a trademark kingpost beam carving.

The most British of woods, that can produce really special results. English oak has been used for hundreds of years to construct everything from sea-going vessels to fine furniture. Although oak grows widely across Europe and North America, craftsmen continue to cherish English oak which grows more slowly than its foreign counterparts giving it strength, durability. Quarter sawn boards are very straight grained and have distinctive growth rings and medullary rays that give a very beautiful effect as well as being renowned for their superior stability and strength.

The Yorkshire School of the Arts & Crafts movement started with Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson's  transformation from jobbing carpenter to master craftsmen. By the mid-1920s he had adopted his trademark mouse (now world renowned as a symbol of quality furniture) and had his own workshop busily employing several men. As the workshop grew and over the years many of the craftsmen have taken their skills and branched out and adopted a trademark of their own, a fox, a lizard, a fish, a rabbit to name but a few, and whilst some have closely stuck to the Mouseman designs others have taken the style and adapted it. Other craftsmen, unconnected to the Mouseman workshop, have also chosen the classic Yorkshire Oak style as their own. Typical Yorkshire school items are in English Oak, with traditional pegged joints and adzed surfaces.