A wheel-back chair is a type of Windsor chair whose pierced central back splat incorporates a circular motif resembling a wheel with radiating spokes. The wheel is usually set within a hooped back of bent wood, flanked by turned spindles, above a solid saddle seat into which the legs and back components are socketed.
The form developed during the late eighteenth century and became one of the most common English country chair patterns of the nineteenth century. It was made in vast numbers in the Thames Valley and particularly around High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, where beech from the Chiltern woods was turned by bodgers and assembled in local workshops. Typical timbers are elm for the seat and beech, ash or yew for the other parts, with yew examples being especially prized. Wheel-back chairs appear both as side chairs and armchairs, and twentieth-century manufacturers such as Ercol continued the design. Collectors look for good colour and patina, solid joints, original legs and stretchers, and a well-shaped seat. Sets of matching chairs are harder to find than singles, and harlequin sets of similar chairs are popular for farmhouse kitchens and informal dining rooms.
