POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'Sussex' armchair by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co and Phillip Webb

Object No. A8244

The design of the 'Sussex' armchair is attributed to Philip Speakman Webb (born 1831 - died 1915) and went into production at Morris and Co. from 1865. The Sussex chair was extraordinarily popular and a range of Sussex furniture designs evolved over the following years. It remained in production until 1940. This particular chair, by virtue of some distinguishing characteristics, dates from the earliest period of production. The Sussex chair is an exceptional example of an idealised form matched with function. William Morris, frustrated by mediocre contemporary industrial design, looked to the past for simple, tried and true designs, which could be revived. The Sussex chair was based on a country chair found in Sussex. That chair was the source of inspiration for the turned frame and rush seat (this type of chair was fashionable between 1790 and 1820 and included elements such as the imitation bamboo frame and rush seat). The furniture produced by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., and later by Morris & Co. are an example of Morris' work to recuperate art's social import by promoting the "decorative honesty" of handicraft . . . helping to establish the theoretical foundation for artists, designers and architects who would, later, develop a modern style across the arts. Campbell Bickerstaff, Curator, Design & Technology December 2019 Irene Sunwoo, Whose Design? Moma and Pevsner's Pioneers, Getty Research Journal, No. 2 (2010), pp. 69-82