Perfectly at home in a traditional or modern setting, this chair is a stand alone piece or can form part of a collection. My aim for this chair is to showcase to a new audience the beauty of whole willow seating and celebrate Ernest Gimson, master craftsman and one of the leaders of the Arts & Crafts movement.

Originally designed by Ernest Gimson in the 1890s, subsequently made for Bedales school, the elegant simplicity of this armchair lends itself beautifully to a finely woven natural white willow seat.

This chair was exhibited as part of the Nourish Exhibition at the Crafts Study Centre in Farnham, Surrey August - October 2022. Willow weaving this chair pays homage to one of Gimson's most iconic pieces of furniture that is displayed at the Cheltenham Museum. In 2019 - 20 a special exhibition 'Ernest Gimson: Observation, Imagination and Making' took place at the museum and showcased Gimson's chair, which he was purported to have woven himself.

The willow seat features natural indigo dyed white willow created using a natural vat fermentation process. In the making of this seat advanced basketmaking techniques including skeining, scalloming and cranking are used. Skeining, (as catagorised by the Heritage Crafts Radcliffe Red List), is an endangered basketry technique and is used to create willow ribbons that cover the side and back rails.

The ash wood chair frame was made for Sarah in 2022 by Lawrence & Daniel Neal. Lawrence & Daniel are father and son, 4th & 5th generation furniture makers descending from and working in the Gimson tradition.

Price on application. 2022.