Why is it that a humble ‘stick’ chair and a wonky cricket table have such appeal? Perhaps it is because there is something undeniably comforting about them – a hug in furniture form. ‘Primitive country antiques have a soul and spirit that is hard to come across today,’ suggests Warwick-based antiques dealer John Cornall, who has been selling country and folk furniture for the best part of 20 years. ‘A stick chair is such a curious thing – it’s a treasure from a totally different way of life,’ adds John, referring to a style characterised by its primitive construction, simple seat, back spindles and carved wooden legs.
For folk art and country furniture dealer Robert Young, part of the joy in these pieces comes out of the fact that they work in everything from a country cottage to a contemporary glass box. ‘Something like a comb back chair translates into every setting,’ says Robert, of a style defined by its bowed back and curved, comb-like top back rail. ‘They have a graphic quality and are sculptural objects really,’ says Robert, who has been dealing in primitive furniture for the best part of 50 years and is widely credited for making it popular 20 or so years ago thanks to his hugely influential book Folk Art.
Camarthenshire-based Tim Bowen, who has been selling some of the best vernacular country furniture and folk art for 35 years agrees: ‘I once sold an 18th-century Welsh stick chair to a guy in Islington who lived in a white apartment with modern art, and the setting just really made the chair sing,’ he explains. ‘I almost think these pieces look their best in contemporary settings.’
Within the primitive country vernacular, cricket tables – so called because their three legs resemble the stumps in a game of cricket – and stick chairs are the mainstays. Oak cupboards and dressers are part of it too, but it is tables and chairs that garner the most attention now. ‘It’s harder for case furniture to have a primitive personality because they have to be a bit more functional,’ explains Robert. Made in rural parts of the UK mainly between the 17th and early 20th centuries, these chairs and tables are simple, humble pieces, created with functionality in mind. ‘They were made using primitive methods by people who weren’t formally trained, but understood wood and the tools that they had,’ explains Tim. ‘I marvel at pieces where someone has taken an ash branch with a slight curve in it and made it into a chair.’
Many of the pieces come from the west country, Wales, Scotland and Ireland – remote places where people, John explains, ‘were living a much older way of life.’ A piece from the 18th century, for instance, might represent workmanship indicative of a much earlier period. Robert suggests the best examples are pre-1830: ‘everything after that got a bit more generic and the joy of this style is that each piece is individual.’ Texture and colour are what sets a piece apart: ‘it could be wonderfully burnished, or completely raw and washed-out like driftwood, but neither one is better than the other,’ explains Robert. Tim agrees that a large part of the appeal comes through the fact each piece is unique. ‘The most desirable chairs or tables have a patina that might be built up of old varnish, paint or the fact that the piece has sat next to an open fire for years and got this wonderful sooty farmhouse feel.’
These aren’t pristine pieces and what matters is that they haven’t been messed about with. ‘They lose all credibility if they’ve been cleaned up,’ explains Robert. Historic repairs, perhaps made by the original craftsperson, are more acceptable, adding to the piece’s layers. ‘I just bought a four-legged chair where one leg has been replaced an age ago probably by the person who made it, and I think that’s fantastic,’ Tim tells me. ‘The wonks, splits and shakes in a piece are all part of it,’ he adds. The chairs and tables that really speak to me are those with an untouched surface and a distinct quirkiness.’
In recent years, the wonkier pieces have become the most coveted. John credits this in part to designers such as Axel Vervoordt, who show in their interiors how a wonderful rustic piece of furniture can make a clean-lined, white room. ‘There was a time when the more sophisticated Georgian oak cricket tables would sell best, but now it’s all about the more primitive, cheese top style, which have a solid thick top and often no stretchers between the legs,’ explains John. ‘All the dealers note the slight irony that pieces made from the humblest materials are now attracting the highest prices: ‘they’ve acquired a value well above the environment they were created in,’ says John. The fact that the most wibbly and least functional pieces have the highest value says a lot: they are pieces of art.
Of all the regions, Welsh vernacular country furniture is the most popular. ‘They do tend to be the more unique pieces as they just weren’t produced in the quantities that they are in England,’ explains Robert. Tim, while admitting his bias as a Welshman who works predominantly with Welsh vernacular country pieces, agrees about their appeal. ‘Farms and cottages here still have these kinds of pieces in them, which I guess gives them a context,’ he explains. ‘I think the tradition of people making simple chairs and tables for their homes just lasted a lot longer here,’ he explains. His book The Welsh Stick Chair – A Visual Record, created with his wife Betsan, is testament to the popularity of these pieces – they published it in lockdown expecting little interest but by the end of 2020 were already on the third reprint.
No doubt the popularity of primitive country furniture is in part driven by the fact that there is less of it around. ‘If I’d sold a stick chair 25 years ago, I could have gone out and quickly sourced another,’ explains Tim. ‘Now I have to hold my nerve and hope someone will come along offering one, but it can take months.’
So, where should you start if you’re looking to invest in a piece of primitive country furniture? Reputable dealers are good places to start – not just because they have good stock, but also because they can spot the fakes. ‘As demand has grown, there are a lot more iffy pieces out there and it’s often down to the dealers to weed out the fakes,’ explains John. ‘Pieces that have a strange asymmetry should be treated with caution.’ While still an investment, if you’re looking for better value for money, try not to buy something from where it is originally from. ‘You pay the highest prices if you buy a Welsh stick chair from Wales,’ suggests John. Equally, think carefully about what you want from the piece: is it something you want to use or something to complete a vignette of white walls and contemporary art? Because there is nothing wrong with the latter and if I’ve learnt anything, these humble stick chairs and cricket tables are as much works of art as they are furniture.
This story originally appeared on House & Garden UK
