The Welsh Stick Chair - A Visual Record by Tim & Betsan Bowen

The Welsh Stick Chair – A Visual Record by Tim and Betsan Bowen offers a useful resource for collectors, designers and makers of the stick chair and those interested in Welsh cultural heritage and folk art.

The book is filled with images of over thirty different Welsh stick chairs, including two contemporary examples. It also illustrates and examines the connections between the stick chair and cricket tables and stools. The book examines how these chairs were often made by makers who were without formal training in joinery, and examines how those craftsmen were highly skilled and understood the way the wood grew and how each different timber could be best utilized.

The authors have used images of the chairs, stools and tables which they have photographed over many years as dealers in Welsh vernacular furniture. Their aim in producing this book is to extend the knowledge and appreciation of these important items of the Welsh folk art tradition. They acknowledge it is not a definitive guide, and they provide details of where Welsh stick chairs can be seen in museums and galleries within the UK and also a rich bibliography of books and further sources which can add to further understanding.

Tim and Betsan wanted the book to be written in Welsh and English and their words have been sensitively translated by the writer and poet, Elinor Wyn Reynolds. A woodcut by Carmarthen based painter and printmaker Rhodri Thomas Rhys which has been used for the cover by the Carmarthenshire based book designer Rebecca Ingleby Davies along with the work of many photographers who are based in Wales. The end result is a book which is the first in a series which explore and celebrate Wales’s rich history of vernacular furniture making and folk art tradition.

To Order:

To order a copy of The Welsh Stick Chair – A Visual Record for £20 (plus p&p), please visit the Tim Bowen Antiques website here

A Preview can be downloaded here

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