Rush-seated armchair in turned, ebonised wood frame and rush seat. In lovely original condition, the ebonised frame rubbed back to reveal the richly patinated wooden frame.

Retains the original rush seat, which has with some fraying commensurate with age and use, particularly along the front rail, but still solid and usable. The rush can be replaced if required.

This chair has been widely attributed to the designer Philip Webb in the early 1860s. It was manufactured by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. and continuously produced by Morris & Co. until the twentieth century.

The name ‘Sussex’ chair can be attributed to Morris’s biographer J.W. Mackail who commented that the chair was adapted from a country chair found in Sussex. Black or red Sussex chairs were used in Morris’s first family home Red House.