Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

156 BRITAIN AT WORK. astonishing to find, when one begins to investigate the subject, how wide is the scope for the artistic designer in respect to so simple an article as a chair. Chairs are like ladies’ hats, there seems to be no limit to their possible variations ; and if at times the novelties verge on the grotesque, or the designer seems to have forgotten that a chair is intended to be sat upon, there are nevertheless always to be seen in the Wycombe workshops new patterns that are TURNING CHAIR LEGS IN A COTTAGE. both artistic and convenient, as well as plentiful reproductions of the old and ap- proved forms. From the state chair of the mayor, with its rich upholstery and elaborate carving, down to the humble “ Windsor chair, which has always been the staple product of the Wycombe trade, every imaginable variety of chair may be seen in process of manufacture in the Wycombe factories. Nor is it chairs alone that occupy the attention of the Wycombe manufacturers. Of late years several firms have added to their business other branches of the furnish- ing and cabinet-making trades, and some of the handsomest sideboards and the daintiest cabinets to be seen in Tottenham Court Road were made at High Wycombe. To see the newest methods of furniture production in operation, we cannot do better than pay a visit to the factories of Messrs. W. Birch, Limited, one of the oldest and largest firms in the town. Very interesting is it to watch the progress, say, of a beauti- fully inlaid drawing-room chair from the rough timber stage through the various processes of moulding, inlaying, framing, polishing, and upholstering. Probably the most fascinating department to most visitors would be the Machinery-room, which is equipped with circular saws, frame saws, band saws, and fret saws; planing, moulding, mortising, tenon- ing, boring, turning, and sand-papering machines. With the aid of these an immense amount of labour is saved, and it would be a revelation to many persons to see how important a part machinery may play in the production even of high-class furniture. It is inevitable, and no doubt on the whole beneficial, that in furniture making, as in other trades, machinery should be taking the place of hand labour. But, watching the wonderful machines per- forming their various functions with dead accuracy, and ap- parently with little exercise of skill on the workman’s part, one cannot but feel that the new conditions must tend to the decay of artistic taste and skilful crafts- manship. There is, of course, scope for these qualities in the designing of new pat- terns—with which, however, the workman has nothing to do—and in the blending of the beautifully coloured woods to form elaborate inlaid patterns ; but, on the whole, the conditions of modern industry seem unfavourable to the development of great artist-craftsmen like Chippendale, Sheraton, and Hepplewhite. Happily, there seems to be a desire in the town to develop, as far as may be, the artistic capacity of the young people. A school of art has been established for several years, and is well attended by workers in the furniture trade, who find the instruction in wood-carving specially valuable.