PETER WAALS (DUTCH 1870-1937), AFTER DESIGNS BY ERNEST GIMSON (BRITISH 1864-1919)
ARTS & CRAFTS ARMCHAIR, CIRCA 1930
Estimate: £800 - £1,200
Auction: 19 March 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
walnut, with holly and ebony beaded inlay and drop-in upholstered seat, inscribed to reverse of seat rail DESIGNED ERNEST GIMSON/ MADE PERCY BURCHETT/ 1929 IN WORKSHOPS OF / PETER WAALS and P. WAALS/ CHALFORD/ 1931/ P. H. BURCHETT, CRAFTSMAN
Dimensions
106cm high, 56cm wide, 44cm deep (41 ½in high, 22in wide, 17 ½in deep)
Provenance
Sir George Trevelyan
Sotheby's London Fine 20th Century Design, 28 April 2009, Lot 1 (with the companion side chair)
Footnote
Literature: Lethaby W. R.; Powell A. H.; Griggs, F.L. Ernest Gimson; His Life & Work, London 1924, pl. 36, where a table of related design is illustrated.
Sir George Trevelyan was a pioneering educator and thinker of the 20th century. Advocating for principles including organic farming and communal living, he was also instrumental to the establishment of spiritual, educational charities including the Wrekin Trust and the Findhorn Foundation.
Prior to his prominence within the New Age Movement, Trevelyan apprenticed himself to Peter Waals from 1929-31 and made many fine pieces of furniture in his workshop. Trevelyan wrote in 1969 that ‘Gimson would be first to acknowledge the immense debt he owed to him [Waals] as colleague. Though Gimson ws, of course, the inspiration and genius, he used Waals from the outset in closest cooperation in checking and discussing designs and construction. The association of these two men was an essential factor in the evolving of the Cotswold Tradition’.