Colonial Windsor Carver Chair

A windsor chair in kauri and ash made in Christchurch about 1880 by Henry Smith Benji Gilling. Very rare pattern colonial chair in original dark finish-two other examples are in Te Papa and Southland Musuems.Illustrated in "Furniture of the NZ Colonial Era 1830-1900" page 319 colour plate 110, and inside the title page...see dedicatio to photographer Joh Petit. Belonged to author Wiliiam Cottrell. Chair was made by Henry Smith, Lichifield St, Chch, in the 1880s. [Colour photo page 319 Cottrell]. Smith was born in Tasmania 1840 and came to NZ in 1860. By 1861 he had settled in Invercargill advertising as a wood turner, chair and cabinet-maker. By 1874 he had moved to Christchurch.  Smith advertised a speciality of Windsor pattern chairs and this is a perfect match to a Nottinghamshire pattern.There was a brief partnership between Benjamin Gilling, Lichfield Street, Chch in the 1880s and there is a chair from this partnership is now in Te Papa [see Cottrell page 303]. Gilling [emigrated to NZ in 1863] came from a famous chair making family in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. It would seem that this chair was made during that partnership also. It perfectly matches Gilling patterns found in England.

This chair for sale matches one in the Southland Museum [see proceedings pages 44-7 Inaugioral Furniture Symposium 2010]. Two other examples are retained by Cottrell. It forms party of a very small group of chairs in colonial NZ that can be directly provenanced back to British chair makers. Almost all are now in museums [Smith Gilling Southland Museum - Craig - Otago Early Settlers Museum, Sanders, Smith-Gilling - Te papa, Vospers and Hargreaves -Nelson Provincial Museum, Bates - Dannevirke Historical Society, Sanders - New Plymouth Museum]