Q & A

P. H. of Varennes, Quebec writes:

My father gave me the chair pictured in the photographs as a gift. He had purchased it at an auction many years ago (for around 40$) in Port Hope, Ontario where the owner at the time was John Cumberland. Apparently the chair had been in M. Cumberland's family for quite some time, having been owned by the gentleman's grandfather, Frederic W. Cumberland, the well known Toronto architect.

The research that I have done leads me to believe that it is either a 17th Century turned chair from Lord Leycester's Hospital in Warwick, or more likely, a copy of one. Apparently there was an individual named John Starkey who was authorised by the Master and Brethren of Earl of Leycester's Hospital to reproduce "Copies of the Old Saxon Chair". He produced the chairs from 1892 to 1904. There is supposed to be a label affixed under the seat stating that the chair was produced by John Starkey, but my chair does not have any such label.

I would like to know if this chair could be an original Old Saxon Chair, a copy by John Starkey, or a copy by someone else. Of course, I would also be interested in the value of this item.

We asked Lee Caswell to respond:

It is indeed a Victorian or Edwardian copy of a 17th century chair.

The chip-carving is too crisp for a 300 plus year old chair. The Cumberland Family still live in Port Hope, my home town, and are in the original family home called Dunain, which is presently for sale. The home, designed by a Cumberland from the firm Cumberland and Storms, is a sprawling Victorian mansion on the edge of town, with extensive gardens.

Your chair has a retail value of approximately $600-800.