CH 78 - THE SUSSEX RUSH-SEATED CHAIR
Of all the specific minor improvements in common household objects due to Morris, the rush-bottomed Sussex chair perhaps takes the first place. It was not his own invention, but was copied with trifling improvements from an old chair of village manufacture in Sussex. With or without modification it has been taken up by all the modern manufacturer's and is in almost UNIVERSAL use. But the Morris pattern of the later type (there were two) still EXCELS all others in simplicity and elegance of proportion. "Life of William Morris" Prof.J.W.Macktail. An appendage to an advertisement post-1899.
These commercial Hi-bred's, were adapted & re-invented, because most of the better quality items were only available for the up & coming then firmly established, middle classes. It was here that Morris tried & succeeded in selling a quality item to the masses & not just the affluent High Society & Wealthy Patrons, who were in the end the only people who could afford the incredulous skill of Morris, his enormous energy & equally skilled friends & collaborators. There was then, much more Superior quality in contemporary design (now Period Design) & much more choice, but only for the affluent middle classes & this was because the Industrial Revolution was expanding at an enormous rate, bringing with it wealth to the middle classes.
How free Morris was 'an amazingly imaginative child', who followed a dream, with his circle of close friends & admirers which then became a living dream, created in their own world inspired from Medievalism & from King Arthur's time. He was the voice of social revolution on a crusade for Liberty, Equality & Fraternity. He achieved unsurpassable heights passionately, beautifully, romantically & poetically, harmoniously, functionally, always with superior quality with nature & with the most vivid colour's often invented by himself. Tony Geering.
CH 78 - Seven Morris & Co Sussex armchairs. Some with original rush seats, all have original finish.
DID U KNOW.. that Ford Maddox Brown persuaded the firm to sell them & Dante Gabriel Rossetti designed the lyre or fiddle back version aptly named "The Rossetti Chair" & when they have to be re-rushed, the arms & the two stretchers just below it have to be removed from the upper back leg, once the rusher has re-laid the rush, only then can they be inserted & glued back together, believe me there is an art to get them back into place because the tolerance's are so close, which is why they are a very strong armchair indeed & also why so many have survived. Circa 1865 & into the 20th Century. 2 armchairs with original rush Priced at £895 each & 3 with new rush so 5 in stock altogether .
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