Early 20Thc Arts & Crafts Oak Reclining Armchair By Shapland & Petter C.1900

The arts and crafts period plantation type armchair, by Shapland and Petter, the quality English oak frame wonderfully crafted and turned with wide undulating arms over spindled flanks, ladder back and turned legs, the whole having a reclining back with five adjustable settings via a baton, with kilim type upholstered cushions and scatters and surviving from the turn of nineteenth century England.

The chair has a very good patina to its carcass and remains in very original order. The reclining settings all work as intended and the upholstery is clean and eminently useable. The castors are original of which she moves freely on. It appears to be unmarked.

Shapland and Petter was an English furniture manufacturer known for producing high-quality Arts and Crafts-style furniture. Shapland and Petter pieces have been illustrated in books and auction catalogues they are invariably attributed to other makers such as Liberty and Co in London or Wylie and Lochhead in Glasgow. For over 100 years the Shapland and Petter factory has stood at the end of Barnstaple Long Bridge. Manufacturers of doors, door sets, and custom wood interiors, NT Shapland and Petter Ltd are still one of the towns largest employers.

The company was established by Henry Shapland (b. 1823), a cabinet maker by trade. He embarked on a voyage to America in 1848, where he was inspired by an invention for a wave-moulding machine. He was only allowed to see it if he left the country immediately. Returning home with only rough notes, he reproduced the machine and in 1854 began a cabinet making business in one room at the Raleigh woollen mill in Pilton. Shapland and Petter were renowned for excellent design and workmanship. The carvers were highly skilled, serving seven-year apprenticeships and attending classes at the Barnstaple School of Art. Ornately carved furniture required up to a hundred tools. The factory produced made to order woodwork for banks, hotels, and shops; mantelpieces, panelling and staircases. They fitted out Pullman railway carriages, the London Guildhall, and Edgar Wallace 's dining room as well as houses like Tapeley Park in North Devon.

A wonderfully well-made chair that proves perfect paired with your favourite book.