During the 18th century some Lancaster merchants traded directly with the West Indies, exporting Lancaster made products in return for slave produced goods such as mahogany, sugar, rum, tobacco and cotton for the British market.

One such company was Gillows of Lancaster who were exporting furniture to the West Indies in return for goods, particularly mahogany and other 'exotic' woods. By the 1770s Gillows was also exporting Windsor chairs which became a best-seller across the West Indies. There are many illustrations of planters lounging on verandas or in their homes on just such chairs. They are also frequently mentioned in Jamaican probate inventories of the period.

This Windsor chair was made locally in Jamaica in the late 1790s replicating this popular style. These chairs are tangible evidence of the complex cross-currents and transmission of styles brought about by the transatlantic trade.

Accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax from the collection of Robert Barker and allocated to Judge’s Lodgings, 2022.