John Pollard Seddon for Doveston, Bird and Hull. An oak Gothic armchair

An oak Gothic armchair designed by John Pollard Seddon, made by Dovestan Bird and Hull. There is no information on Doveston, Bird and Hull in Manchester but Edward Hull is known at 106 Kings St in 1877 and on July 2 1881 the company was incorporated as Doveston, Davey, Hull and Co Ltd. It is therefore difficult to date when these variations were made. Earlier versions of this armchair with animals carved to the arms were originally made by his family firm Thomas Seddon (Seddon and Co) and often stamped T Seddon. New Bond St. The company also supplied furniture to Windsor castle and Buckingham Palace, founded by his Great Grandfather George Seddon. He exhibited an almost identical armchair on the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co stand at the 1862 International Exhibition, illustrated in Jeremy Coopers Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors, page 104 illustration 220 (the original drawing) and 227 (a solid ebony variation of this chair). Another version is also illustrated in Nineteenth Century Design by Charlotte Gere and Michael Whiteway, page 84 illustration pl 83. Seddon's partner at one point was E.W.Godwin a friend of the Pre-Raphaelites and some of his pupils were Ford Maddox Brown, C.F.A.Voysey and Daniel Gabriel Rossetti. Circa 1860/70's.