A Set of 6 Arts & Crafts Yorkshire School English Oak Chair by Derek 'Lizardman' Slater c. 1970. A atrractive set of chairs with a pleasingly simple classic Yorkshire School design and good age related colour. The low open backs make these these feel like they are taking up less space around a table. Featuring:

• Solid English Oak throughout.

• Well figured quarter-sawn English Oak (quarter-sawing is a way of sawing oak to produce boards with superior strength which also reveals decorative 'medullary rays' in its grain).

• Subtly adzed on all visible surfaces (the subtle surface rippling synonymous with Yorkshire School furniture) Adzing does not interfere with use and objects will happy stand steadily on an adzed surface.

• Octagonal front legs and square back legs joined by side stretchers united by a cross stretcher.

• Studded leather seat pads.

• Two curved ladders back.

• Traditional blind tenons secured with hand made pegs.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Height 850mm (2 feet 9 1/4 inches).

• Overall Width 430mm (1 foot 4 3/4 inches).

• Overall Width 430mm (1 foot 4 3/4 inches).

• Seat Height 460mm (1 foot 6 inches) [A standard height for a chair].

c. 1970.

Derek Lizardman Slater's carved fish motif on every chair (Derek used a fish motif for his earliest work, changing later to a lizard).

Very good condition, with good colour, tight joints and clean finish. Some wear and marks to the leather pads. Overall much better than expected with an item that has been in use for over half a century. If you wish to have further specific photographs or talk to us for a more detailed condition report then please do not hesitate to contact us.

A former apprentice from Acorn Industries (Alan 'Acornman' Grainger) know for his quality work in oak in the Yorkshire School style and trademark carved Lizard. He worked with with ex-Mouseman apprentice Martin Dutton under the trade name 'Woodcarvers of Crayke'.

The most British of woods, that can produce really special results. English oak has been used for hundreds of years to construct everything from sea-going vessels to fine furniture. Although oak grows widely across Europe and North America, craftsmen continue to cherish English oak which grows more slowly than its foreign counterparts giving it strength, durability. Quarter sawn boards are very straight grained and have distinctive growth rings and medullary rays that give a very beautiful effect as well as being renowned for their superior stability and strength.

The Yorkshire School of the Arts & Crafts movement started with Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson's  transformation from jobbing carpenter to master craftsmen. By the mid-1920s he had adopted his trademark mouse (now world renowned as a symbol of quality furniture) and had his own workshop busily employing several men. As the workshop grew and over the years many of the craftsmen have taken their skills and branched out and adopted a trademark of their own, a fox, a lizard, a fish, a rabbit to name but a few, and whilst some have closely stuck to the Mouseman designs others have taken the style and adapted it. Other craftsmen, unconnected to the Mouseman workshop, have also chosen the classic Yorkshire Oak style as their own. Typical Yorkshire school items are in English Oak, with traditional pegged joints and adzed surfaces.