Mahogany Regency Chair - Gillows chair - Victorian Chair - Victorian Button-Back Mahogany ‘Ladies’ Chair
November 25th, 2009
Mahogany Regency Chair - Gillows chair - Victorian Chair - Victorian Button-Back Mahogany ‘Ladies’ Chair
A mahogany Regency chair with lyre motif in the back, c.1825. The curved side rails and sabre legs are reeded to give a continuous effect. The drop-in seat is located by a peg set in the top of the front rail. As with all sabre-leg chairs the front legs should be examined carefully to see whether the top has been damaged; the construction of a sabre leg necessitates cutting across the grain of the wood thereby reducing the strength of the timber. It is a sign of quality if there are none of these repairs.
Price Range: Single $45 $65
For some reason the lyre causes a rush of blood to the head in chair purchasers; look for inflated values accordingly.
Typical late Regency-cum-William IV rosewood single chair, c.1835. The front legs are octagonal in section and the design has become heavier. The drop-in seat is still light in character, however, and the classical
influence still evident.
A Gillows chair of 1841 made for Colonel Cradock. The back shows a stage in design which precedes the balloon back, while the heavily turned and reeded legs of the period have been replaced by finely made and
decorated cabriole legs. The seat rail has moved away from the Straight Regency design, and the total appearance is much lighter than the sub-classical designs of the 1820 - 40’s. The top rail is undecided as to
whether it is to follow the downward curve of the preceding example or to strike out into the new balloon shape. The French influence is also evident in the decorative effects.
Balloon-back Victorian chair in walnut c.1850. The cabriole legs, despite a tendency towards bandyness, mark the distinct move away from the heavy turned legs of the previous years. The nicely proportioned curve of the seat rail between the legs helps to accentuate the change to a flowing, curved effect. These chairs were evidently very popular and were made for a number of years perhaps up to the 1860’s and in a modified form throughout the rest of the period.
Another mid-Victorian chair, c.1850, with cabriole legs and needlework back and seat. The legs are treated more slenderly, with less curvature and the scrolled knobs at the feet are less accentuated. The needlework, if original, adds to value.
A mahogany chair of c.1845 with cabriole legs. The back is upholstered and its broad heavy top rail follows the late Regency trend, but the revival of rococo taste is evident in the scrolled feet and in the scrolling of the lower back rail. The legs do not show any decisive curving and mark that indecision of design characteristic of the period.
A country mahogany chair of the 1820 - 40 period. The Regency influence is evident in the arms, but the broad top rail belongs to the later part of the period.
A Gillows’ design of 1884, which owes a good deal to fashions of an earlier period. The reeded legs are more bulbous and the upholstered seat not shown in this constructional sketch would be very full. The
chamfered and grooved inside edge of the back is to lighten the effect of the very broad top rail and uprights. The latter have been ornamented with a small scroll at the join of the top rail, which almost seems an afterthought of design.
Early Victorian (1839) Gillows’ chair with turned and reeded front legs. The downward curve of the thick top rail, which is carved, helps to produce a more integrated design. It is a sitting room chair with padded back to give additional comfort.
An unashamed Victorian mahogany chair c.1850 of which the back owes much to the balloon design of more elegant versions. The uncorseted bulbous front legs are of a kind which have a robust appeal of their own, even though most dealers flinch at the sight of them.
Later period Victorian chair in mahogany. Note the heavier, squarer back with over-emphasized, eighteenth century style corner carving. The cabriole legs and seat rail are also heavily encrusted. The fully upholstered
seat gives an appearance of overstuffing and top heaviness.
A chair of a design normally associated with the William IV or early Victorian period. This is, in fact, a Gillows’ design of 1877 and illustrates the fact that one must be very circumspect about dating Victorian chairs by their design, for one finds similar designs being executed over a period of thirty to forty years. The fully upholstered seat and moulded front rail give a heaviness not present in our William IV rosewood example, but the back and the turned and reeded front legs could easily be associated with the 1830 - 40 period.
Sets of 4 or 6 $10 $15 each
Early eighteenth century c.1720 wing armchair with cabriole legs in w alnut. Upholstered in leather. This is a fine example and well illustrates the three dimensional quality of the design. The wings sweep into the arms of this fine quality chair, which is as comfortable to sit in as one might imagine. Note the shape of the back legs; this feature was not normally well imitated by later craftsmen.
A more elaborate bergere chair of Victorian character, c.1850. In this case the cabriole legs and scrolled arms are in the same style as upholstered armchairs of the period. The back has a very pronounced rake to it
and the top rail sweeps boldly to a small scroll at each end. This example is in Virginian walnut and has a certain American air about it possibly because ranch or railroad bosses of the Lee J. Cobb variety always seem to be sprawling in them on the screen. A loose cushion, possibly covered in hide,
would have been fitted in the seat.
A mahogany button-back armchair of c.1850. The influence of rococo Styles is clear in the carving and scroll feet. Possibly some of the later French Empire influence, prevalent in the 1810 - 1840 period, continued into the Victorian era without too much adulteration.
Carving cabriole legs
Later Victorian upholstered chair on mahogany cabriole legs, c.1870. One of a large number of similar designs which, being very comfortable, have doubled in price over the last few years.
A Victorian button-back mahogany ‘ladies’ chair, with cabriole legs, c.1850. The top rail is decorated with leaf carving. The ‘grandmother’ equivalent of the previously illustrated ‘grandfather’ (i.e. with arms).
A mid-Victorian open armchair in walnut, of the popular button-back type, c.1850. The fluency of the curve between the arm supports and the cabriole leg is spoilt by the thickness of wood at the point where the scrolls are carved. Most examples are better balanced. This example is in walnut, but many were made in mahogany.
Another mahogany button-back armchair of c.1850, this time with turned legs. The arm supports are scrolled and so is the back. When the Victorians took to turning, they were predictably complex and the addition of reeding on the legs was often, as in this case, irresistible to them. Turned leg examples of this kind of chair never reach the same value as cabrioles.
A restrained mahogany armchair of the 1890 - 1910 period which, again, demonstrates the return to eighteenth century styles. The square tapering legs and inlaid stringing lines, together with the square back design. relate to Sheraton examples.
Set of Mahogany Chairs, Dining Chairs and Settee, Furniture Antiques
November 23rd, 2009
Antique Set of Mahogany Chairs, Dining Chairs and Settee
A SET OF SEVEN GEORGE III MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS
Each with a shield-shaped back and pierced vase splat, with a padded seat, on square tapered legs with spade feet, and a matching single chair of a later date.
A GEORGE II STYLE MAHOGANY OPEN ARMCHAIR
With a floral-carved top-rail and pierced interlaced vase splat, foliate-carved arms, tapestry drop-in seat and scroll-carved cabriole legs with claw and ball feet.
A SET OF EIGHT MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS, early 20th
century
Including a pair of elbow chairs, each with an undulating foliate-decorated top-rail and pierced chamfered Gothic arched sprats, with a drop-in seat, on moulded square tapered legs.
A GEORGE III STYLE MAHOGANY OPEN ARMCHAIR
With a serpentine top-rail and pierced foliate-carved vase splat, outswept arms with foliate scroll terminals, drop-in tapestry seat and scroll-carved cabriole legs with claw and ball feet.
A SET OF SIX REGENCY SIMULATED ROSEWOOD DINING CHAIRS
Each with a maple lotus-carved curved bar top-rail and horizontal splat, with a drop-in seat, on bead-decorated.
A SET OF TWELVE MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS
With ebonised incised lines, each with a key-pattern curved bar top-rail and horizontal splat, with a padded seat on sabre legs.
A SET OF SIX REGENCY MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS
Including one elbow chair, each with a brass-inlaid curved bar top-rail and rope-twist horizontal splat, with a drop-in seat, on moulded sabre legs .
A SET OF SIX GEORGE III MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS
Each with a moulded shaped arched top-rail centred by a foliate spray and a pierced reeded baluster splat, with a drop-in seat, on square tapered legs joined by stretchers
Each with an undulating top-rail and foliate-decorated Gothic arched splats, with a padded bowed seat, on tapering legs .
A MAHOGANY CHAIR-BACK SETTEE
The undulating back with shield-shaped panels with pierced vase splats, with a padded bowed seat, on square tapered legs with spade feet.
A SET OF TEN WALNUT DINING CHAIRS
Including a pair of. elbow chairs, each with a moulded curved bar top-rail and solid vase splat, with a slip-in seat, on cabriole legs terminating in pad feet.
A SET OF TEN MATCHING WALNUT DINING CHAIR
A WALNUT THREE-PIECE SUITE
In the William and Mary style, comprising a pair of armchairs and a three-seater settee, each with a caned panel back with a pierced arched foliate scroll cresting, with outswept scroll arms and padded seat, on ring-turned legs terminating in Braganza feet.
A PAIR OF GIFTWOOD WINDOW SEATS, early 19th century
Each with padded sides with reeded arm and tapered columns, with a padded seat, on turned tapered legs 42in.
A SIMULATED ROSEWOOD AND PARCEL-GILT ELBOW CHAIR,
early 19th century The U-shaped caned panel back and arms terminating in lions mask terminals, with bowed caned seat on ring-turned tapered legs terminating in paw feet, the decoration of a later date.
A SET OF EIGHT GEORGE IV MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS
Each with a scroll curved arched bar topsail and reeded horizontal splats with cruciform panels, with a padded seat on moulded square tapered legs with turned feet, some stamped Wilkinson. Ludgate Hill, numbered variously 89.39, 8940, and initialled variously, T. N., H. Al., 1.G., 1. Al. (8) William Wilkinson used this stamp up to about 1820 and with his sons traded from this address until about 1840. Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Maney, 1968.
A GEORGE III MAHOGANY ELBOW CHAIR
The back with an undulating top-rail and pierced vase splat, with a padded seat, on square chamfered tapered legs; and an accompanying Victorian rosewood footstool, on bun feet.
Antique Corner and Rocking Chairs, Edwardian Oak Chairs
November 19th, 2009
CHAIRS rocking and special purpose
A typical Edwardian child’s chair in birch or beech, originally either white-painted or stained. The lower mechanism allows the chair to be set in a lower position or, additionally, to rest as a ‘rocker’ on the ground. Quite a common and popular child’s chair in the pre-1914 period. 1900-1914
A typical turned spindled rocking chair of a type made in large numbers. This example has been recovered.
A folding ’safari’ chair, shown both open and closed, suitable for collapsing and portage by a bearer. The turned legs unscrew from the frame for further dismantling and carriage. It is made of mahogany with cane seat and back and is quite strong. When the lady concerned was tired, the chair was easily set up and she could be carried by native bearers. Made by Ward & Co. until the 1920s.
CHAIRS small Edwardian oak
The period from 1900 to 1914 saw the mass production of a large number of small chairs of rather square proportion, made in oak. Some had drop-in seats, some were rushed, some simply webbed and upholstered with a shiny rexine covering. Their design was quite simple and functional; the legs were either square section tapering or turned and the back, fairly severe in outline, leant sometimes to the 18th century and sometimes to more modern, art nouveau designs for its style. Individual comment on each version would be
either unrewarding or unwise. Suffice it to say that they are still a source of cheap matched seating. The selection below and on the opposite page shows a small part of the total variations that were made. 1900-1914
CHAIRS corner
Here is an early 20th century reproduction of a ‘Chippendale’ type, with a drop-in rush seat. The square legs and turned back supports are correct copies of the original, as are the fretted splats which are a Chippendale design. This version is made in oak to accord with the ‘country’ connotations of the rush seat. If made in mahogany, the drop-in seat would be upholstered. Would almost certainly be sold as 18th century. 1900-1910
A rather feebler version with a half-circular back rail and a single central splat inlaid with a Sheraton ,shell’. The thin seat and spindly legs make it look easily destructible. An intermediate step to a rounded chair the next stage is to make the seat round instead of square. 1900-1914
There seems to have been a revival of the corner chair, which had languished after the end of the 18th century, in the 1870s. Why is a mystery, for it is an essentially masculine, leg-separating and inconvenient form. Richard Norman Shaw designed rush-seated corner chairs for E. W. Horsley’s house Willesley, with a cabriole front leg and rather early 18th century form, stained green, in the late 1860s and, before that, a type based on late 17th century models for his own office. The corner chair fascinated Shaw, so perhaps he is responsible for its revival; his interiors show several types. It is clear from furnishers’ catalogues that, by the end of the century, there was a steady demand for them.
Another more Edwardian variant in the mahogany corner chair the splats are of 18th century design origin but the top rail at the corner has been embellished with the pedimented shape so dear to Edwardian hearts. The seat upholstery is fixed and finished with brass studs round the edge. 1900-1914
And here it is the fully rounded `corner’ chair in which the seat as well as the back rail are of circular shape. There is now no particular reason to think of it as a corner chair except for the centrally-placed front leg, which ensures a limb-separating posture for anyone seated straight on the chair.
A mahogany corner chair of much more Edwardian form but still based on 18th century design, this time late Sheraton. The drop-in seat is covered with tapestry and the back has an inlaid satinwood ’shell’ in it.
A typical Edwardian child’s chair in birch or beech, originally either white-painted or stained. The lower mechanism allows the chair to be set in a lower position or, additionally, to rest as a ‘rocker’ on the ground. Quite a common and popular child’s chair in the pre-1914 period. 1900-1914
A typical turned spindled rocking chair of a type made in large numbers. This example has been recovered.
A folding ’safari’ chair, shown both open and closed, suitable for collapsing and portage by a bearer. The turned legs unscrew from the frame for further dismantling and carriage. It is made of mahogany with cane seat and back and is quite strong. When the lady concerned was tired, the chair was easily set up and she could be carried by native bearers. Made by Ward & Co. until the 1920s.
CHAIRS small Edwardian oak
The period from 1900 to 1914 saw the mass production of a large number of small chairs of rather square proportion, made in oak. Some had drop-in seats, some were rushed, some simply webbed and upholstered with a shiny rexine covering. Their design was quite simple and functional; the legs were either square section tapering or turned and the back, fairly severe in outline, leant sometimes to the 18th century and sometimes to more modern, art nouveau designs for its style. Individual comment on each version would be
either unrewarding or unwise. Suffice it to say that they are still a source of cheap matched seating. The selection below and on the opposite page shows a small part of the total variations that were made. 1900-1914
CHAIRS corner
Here is an early 20th century reproduction of a ‘Chippendale’ type, with a drop-in rush seat. The square legs and turned back supports are correct copies of the original, as are the fretted splats which are a Chippendale design. This version is made in oak to accord with the ‘country’ connotations of the rush seat. If made in mahogany, the drop-in seat would be upholstered. Would almost certainly be sold as 18th century. 1900-1910
A rather feebler version with a half-circular back rail and a single central splat inlaid with a Sheraton ,shell’. The thin seat and spindly legs make it look easily destructible. An intermediate step to a rounded chair the next stage is to make the seat round instead of square. 1900-1914
There seems to have been a revival of the corner chair, which had languished after the end of the 18th century, in the 1870s. Why is a mystery, for it is an essentially masculine, leg-separating and inconvenient form. Richard Norman Shaw designed rush-seated corner chairs for E. W. Horsley’s house Willesley, with a cabriole front leg and rather early 18th century form, stained green, in the late 1860s and, before that, a type based on late 17th century models for his own office. The corner chair fascinated Shaw, so perhaps he is responsible for its revival; his interiors show several types. It is clear from furnishers’ catalogues that, by the end of the century, there was a steady demand for them.
Another more Edwardian variant in the mahogany corner chair the splats are of 18th century design origin but the top rail at the corner has been embellished with the pedimented shape so dear to Edwardian hearts. The seat upholstery is fixed and finished with brass studs round the edge. 1900-1914
And here it is the fully rounded `corner’ chair in which the seat as well as the back rail are of circular shape. There is now no particular reason to think of it as a corner chair except for the centrally-placed front leg, which ensures a limb-separating posture for anyone seated straight on the chair.
A mahogany corner chair of much more Edwardian form but still based on 18th century design, this time late Sheraton. The drop-in seat is covered with tapestry and the back has an inlaid satinwood ’shell’ in it.
Antique Victorian Spoon Back Chairs of 19th Century
November 19th, 2009
CHAIRS upholstered, Victorian spoon backs
The spoon back chair, usually with buttoned upholstery to the back, has become an accepted ’standard’ in the antique trade following its revival in the 1960s. Many such chairs are elegant, cheerful and, as with much rococo-derived furniture, slightly frivolous in appearance. The cabriole-legged variety is the most highly valued, followed by turned-leg chairs with backs that are still in flowing curves. The later, straighter types on turned legs are not prized as highly as the early, curly ones.
Another open-armed armchair with an oval back, not buttoned in this case, although it could be. Missing its castors. Again, carved with naturalistic flora and scrolls. It can be seen that these curvaceous chairs were not for the heavier members of society: they do have a tendency to break at the joints. 1850-1885
Another mid-Victorian chair, usually a partner to an armchair of the previous examples, with floral carving. In this case the ‘waist’ of the spoon is not quite as positively narrowed as one would wish that of A good example of an open-armed Victorian button-back chair, in the rococo style, with some naturalistic carving on the front cabriole legs and the top rail of the back. An elegant, cheerful chair, fit to bring a scowl to the brow of an architect for, as Handley-Read has pointed out, the style is essentially frivolous and, therefore, not liked by architects. It was, and still is, tremendously popular. Although probably in its heyday in the 1850s and early 1860s, this style was still being made in the 1880s, as manufacturers’ catalogues testify.
The ‘ladies’ chair’ companion to the previous example. The same excellence applies: crisp carving, smart proportion, deep buttoning, flourishing cabriole legs. A classic spoon back that was popular and made throughout the period. Unfortunately, many versions were made much more cheaply and in woods much inferior to the mahogany of this example. Walnut and rosewood (rare) are in a similar quality bracket to mahogany, but beware the stained birch or beech of later examples.
A much rounder version of the spoon back with later characteristics in its rococo style the start of cranks appearing in the flowing curves of the back. Like the other chairs, it is low and would allow the easy spread of complicated garments around it without creasing them. 1850-1880
A squarer low chair which is a successor to the spoon back. It has turned legs instead of cabrioles but the back is inlaid with burr walnut or amboyna and has boxwood inlays in the top in marquetry floral forms.
Square, turned-leg chairs marking the return to straighter styles prevalent from 1870 onwards. Similar to the previous example but in plain mahogany and with the characteristic dot-dash grooving (incised decoration) so typical of later semi-rococo chairs.
The spoon back chair, usually with buttoned upholstery to the back, has become an accepted ’standard’ in the antique trade following its revival in the 1960s. Many such chairs are elegant, cheerful and, as with much rococo-derived furniture, slightly frivolous in appearance. The cabriole-legged variety is the most highly valued, followed by turned-leg chairs with backs that are still in flowing curves. The later, straighter types on turned legs are not prized as highly as the early, curly ones.
Another open-armed armchair with an oval back, not buttoned in this case, although it could be. Missing its castors. Again, carved with naturalistic flora and scrolls. It can be seen that these curvaceous chairs were not for the heavier members of society: they do have a tendency to break at the joints. 1850-1885
Another mid-Victorian chair, usually a partner to an armchair of the previous examples, with floral carving. In this case the ‘waist’ of the spoon is not quite as positively narrowed as one would wish that of A good example of an open-armed Victorian button-back chair, in the rococo style, with some naturalistic carving on the front cabriole legs and the top rail of the back. An elegant, cheerful chair, fit to bring a scowl to the brow of an architect for, as Handley-Read has pointed out, the style is essentially frivolous and, therefore, not liked by architects. It was, and still is, tremendously popular. Although probably in its heyday in the 1850s and early 1860s, this style was still being made in the 1880s, as manufacturers’ catalogues testify.
The ‘ladies’ chair’ companion to the previous example. The same excellence applies: crisp carving, smart proportion, deep buttoning, flourishing cabriole legs. A classic spoon back that was popular and made throughout the period. Unfortunately, many versions were made much more cheaply and in woods much inferior to the mahogany of this example. Walnut and rosewood (rare) are in a similar quality bracket to mahogany, but beware the stained birch or beech of later examples.
A much rounder version of the spoon back with later characteristics in its rococo style the start of cranks appearing in the flowing curves of the back. Like the other chairs, it is low and would allow the easy spread of complicated garments around it without creasing them. 1850-1880
A squarer low chair which is a successor to the spoon back. It has turned legs instead of cabrioles but the back is inlaid with burr walnut or amboyna and has boxwood inlays in the top in marquetry floral forms.
Square, turned-leg chairs marking the return to straighter styles prevalent from 1870 onwards. Similar to the previous example but in plain mahogany and with the characteristic dot-dash grooving (incised decoration) so typical of later semi-rococo chairs.