WEST SUSSEX.- Starting on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 – Summers Place Auctions, the leading auctioneers of Garden Statuary and Natural History will be holding an 8-day online auction* on their website www.summersplaceauctions.com devoted to seats in all shapes and forms. Ranging from your own line of 1930s cinema seats (est: £200-300) to a run of three airline seats (est: £100-200) to a fairground carousel swing seat (est: £400-600) or a child’s pedal car dating from 1938! (est: £400-600).

As Specialist in charge, James Rylands explains: “This sale selection encompasses everything that you can sit on from a chair, a bench, a stool… and it will not only give you something to sit on, it will broaden your imagination! This is the first of our themed online sales and it takes place over the Easter break – when many people are thinking about home and garden improvements! Whether you are wining, dining, schmoozing or cruising, there is something for you in this sale. ”

This internet sale also includes some of the great names of 20th century design; Oak benches by Gordon Russell (est: £600-800) and a limed oak example John Makepeace (est: £600-800) through to Perspex ‘Ghost’ chairs by Phillipe Stark (est: £200-300 for the pair).

Current designers for the garden include Martyn Barratt’s marble cocoon seat (est: £3,000-4,000) and Richard Cresswell’s Volkswagen Beetle bench (est: £1,200-1,800) and as a bit of fun, Michael Coombs resin fibre towel chair (est: £600-800). A birthing chair by sculptor Wilfred Pritchard - complete with bronze skeleton - is estimated at £6,000 -£8,000.

For the out of the ordinary try an early 20th century set of jockey’s seat weighing scales (est: £200-400) or for a bit of therapy a fully automated physiotherapists chair (est: £400-600). Iconic design from the post-war include the Papasan wicker chair from the 50s and the garden egg chair by Hungarian designer Peter Ghyczy in 1968 (est: £200-300).

Close to Mother Nature and a good exercise in recycling are a pair of antler and hide stools (est: £600-800 for the pair) or even an antique stool made from a whale’s vertebrae (est: £600-800).

Well-known sculptors are also well represented including Isaac Kahn’s Bird on Chair in bronze (est: £6,000-8,000).