George II period mahogany chair - Antique Chair in Oak - Chippendale mahogany chair in the Gothic style - A Chippendale mahogany ladder-back chair
November 25th, 2009
George II period mahogany chair - Antique Chair in Oak - Chippendale mahogany chair in the Gothic style - A Chippendale mahogany ladder-back chair
A George II period mahogany chair, c.1735. quality Cuban mahogany has been used, the normally be associated with walnut; but there se Shaped splat has small scrolls and a shell
are topped with eagle heads patterns carved on the knees.
Note that although a fine style is one which would are extra refinements. The work top. The shaped up-and the cabriole legs have
Price Range: Single chair $90 $110
In sets $175 $230 per chair
Another walnut pre-Chippendale chair with simpler but similar back splat _esign. The square legs and stretchers suggest a later date possibly -50 and the proportions are a little less ample, but this is nevertheless a very pleasing chair. There is a drop-in seat and the front legs have a scratch moulding down the front corners; they are chamfered at the back. Price Range: Single $15 $25
Quality and execution of back splats
Antique Chair in Oak - A Charles II c.1675 oak chair - Late Seventeenth Century Country Walnut ChairChippendale mahogany armchair of considerable quality, c.1760. cabriole legs, decorated with shell and scroll pattern carving on the knee, terminating in excellent ball-arid-claw feet. The arms sweep boldly outwards, terminating almost at right angles to the line of the sides in scrolls. A very well proportioned back splat, with the upper scrolled curves leading perfectly from the top rail, which is also carved with leaf patterns. Note the boldness and width of the fully upholstered seat which is covered in leather. N.B. Although this type is generally known as a ‘Chippendale’ chair, it is interesting to recall that the Director’ shows chairs with cabriole legs with scrolled feet, until the third edition, when a plate of hall chairs shows the ball and claw foot, which was undoubtedly popular at this period.
Price Range: $300 $400
Value points: Quality and execution of cabrioles
Quality of back splat and carving
Warning: Many high quality Victorian reproductions exist of this type of chair. These reproductions have a value of $25 $35 each.
Antique Chair in Oak - A Charles II c.1675 oak chair - Late Seventeenth Century Country Walnut ChairA single mahogany Chippendale chair, c.1760, of similar type to the preceding armchair but of bolder proportion. While the back uprights are reeded however, the legs are not. A scratch moulding down the corners of the front legs gives added lightness and the front apron is slightly serpentine. Note the very fine quality of the scroll and leaf carving which is pleasantly mellowed with age and lacks the sharpness of a reproduction piece. The overall proportions of the chair are extremely pleasing and demonstrate the ample size of eighteenth century seats.
A mahogany Chippendale chair, c.1760, with the splat again showing the Gothic influence in the arching. The top rail is waved and carved with leaves, but the legs and stretchers are the plain robust design of the
period.
Country Chippendale armchair in elm c.1770. A simple and appeallingly bold chair although this example has been worn or slightly cut down in the leg. The seat is fully upholstered, which may be a conversion due to damage to the front rail. The tenon joints are pegged.
Price Range: $30 $40
Colour, figure and patination
Quality of splat
Chippendale mahogany chair in the Gothic style, c.1755. Although the Gothic influence and French influence also are evident, it is only in mild form in this chair. In earlier versions taken from Chippendale’s `Director’ the Gothic designs are very much more exaggerated, with multi-arched backs and heavily fretted legs and stretchers. This chair is of high quality, good proportion and restrained, though righ, execution. (Gothic and Chinese Chippendale chairs of high quality are much sought-after).
A Chippendale ‘Ribbon’ back chair of c.1760 - 70. So called because of the ribbon carving in the back. Due to the craftsmanship involved in executing these chairs they naturally command high prices and are relatively scarce. The remainder of the chair is of typical Chippendale design, with fully upholstered seat which in some cases may be serpentine at the front.
It is interesting to note that although the period after 1730 - 40 is generally associated with mahogany, a well known example of this type exists in walnut, and walnut chairs are to be found of even later date.
Another Country Chippendale armchair c.1770 of more ornate splat design, with drop-in seat. The Gothic influence is evident in the arching within the splat and the top rail is also arched in a slightly later style. Usually to be found in mahogany or country wood such as elm or birch stained mahogany colour.
Warning: Many such chairs, having been used hard for many years, have had stretchers replaced or cut legs replaced. Watch also for broken or replaced splats and top rails; the latter particularly at the tenon joint with
the upright.
A Chippendale mahogany ladder-back chair of c.1765. The ladder-back designs tended to be of later Chippendale period. In this case the back rails are elegantly designed and pieced to add lightness to the overall effect. Note the scratch moulding down the front leg corners also to add lightness and the chamfered backs of the front legs.
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 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.
Antique Country Chairs and Kitchen Chairs - Victorian, Edwardian and 1900-1920`s
November 19th, 2009
CHAIRS country and kitchen : wooden seated, 1860-1930
This section also includes chairs for institutional and office use, made in large quantities by mass-production methods. On the whole they are more durable than rush-seated chairs and tend to be perennially favourite types such as the Windsor which is still going strong. In the mid- and late 19th century large quantities of simple chairs were produced for the expanding markets available: some of them were of attractive design and are now coming to be appreciated as cheap, pleasant and functional chairs.
Starting with the Windsor, which goes back to the mid-18th century (see Price Guide to Antique Furniture) some forms of chair have been produced over very long periods. The illustration shows a typical 19th century Windsor with robust baluster turning (look at the arm supports) and a curved, or ‘crinoline’ stretcher. This stretcher adds more value than an ordinary, turned one. Manufacturers’ catalogues show such chairs up to the 1914-18 war. Later versions tend to be less robust, however. 1830-1920
The ‘Windsor’ chair remained in use and manufacture throughout the period, as indeed it still does. Above are some straightforward mass-produced Windsors as retailed by almost every department store and furnisher.
1860-present day Wheelback arm, spoke-back arm.
A version of the wheelback, without the two diagonally-sloping extra spindles of 218 and 219. The turning of the legs is elegant and lacks the extra turned collars which embellish the later types and make them look more mass-produced.
Windsor chairs from the Maurice Adams’ catalogue of 1926, showing how the wheelback form is virtually unchanged from the previous examples from a catalogue of 1908. The wheelback ‘carver’ shown below, has slightly more robust baluster-turned legs but the single chair is no different from the 1908 version. The cabriole-legged wheelbacks follow an earlier 18th century design, with ‘crinoline’ curved stretchers. The arm chair has the curved support to the arm as against the later, turned armed support on the turned-leg
chair.
Cabriole-leg single chair and turned-leg arm chair.
Two of the most commonly-produced kitchen, country, office or institutional chairs throughout the period. On the left a single chair, usually in beech or birch with an elm or beech/birch seat. On the right, a stick-back with broad top rail, of slightly Windsor derivation. 1860-1930
The smoker’s bow is now a popularly-hunted chair, fetching as much as 120 for certain versions in London. Good examples with opulently-turned fat baluster legs, like the one illustrated, are still to be found for much less around 90 each and thin, lesser versions for about 60. 1850-1940
A late 19th century chair which is a cross between a Windsor and a kitchen or office chair. It is very ornate, as the turning and the fretting of the centre splat show. There are still plenty of them about, although there has tended to be a drain of all these types of chair, particularly the Smoker’s Bow, to the export trade. 1850-1940
A typical kitchen armchair of the 19th century, on turned legs, much beloved of schools and other institutions up to the present day. Usually made in birch or beech and stained or varnished a dark colour. Sometimes the seat is made of elm. When stripped of stain or varnish to their natural colour, these chairs are often a pleasant golden brown.
Another 19th century country or kitchen chair, with a pleasantly arched and spindled decoration in the back. The seat is made of elm and the rest a pleasant, golden-coloured beech. The design was used for a long time; Shoolbred had it in 1876 and Skull in 1913. 1850-1920
A very pretty late 19th century chair with a seat which has been recovered. Usually these chairs had an impressed plywood seat, with a pattern embossed by pressure in it, usually finished in a lighter colour than the background. 1870-1900
A Worksop chair with robust baluster-turned legs and characteristic notched curved ends on the top rail. A fine example of this type of chair.
This section also includes chairs for institutional and office use, made in large quantities by mass-production methods. On the whole they are more durable than rush-seated chairs and tend to be perennially favourite types such as the Windsor which is still going strong. In the mid- and late 19th century large quantities of simple chairs were produced for the expanding markets available: some of them were of attractive design and are now coming to be appreciated as cheap, pleasant and functional chairs.
Starting with the Windsor, which goes back to the mid-18th century (see Price Guide to Antique Furniture) some forms of chair have been produced over very long periods. The illustration shows a typical 19th century Windsor with robust baluster turning (look at the arm supports) and a curved, or ‘crinoline’ stretcher. This stretcher adds more value than an ordinary, turned one. Manufacturers’ catalogues show such chairs up to the 1914-18 war. Later versions tend to be less robust, however. 1830-1920
The ‘Windsor’ chair remained in use and manufacture throughout the period, as indeed it still does. Above are some straightforward mass-produced Windsors as retailed by almost every department store and furnisher.
1860-present day Wheelback arm, spoke-back arm.
A version of the wheelback, without the two diagonally-sloping extra spindles of 218 and 219. The turning of the legs is elegant and lacks the extra turned collars which embellish the later types and make them look more mass-produced.
Windsor chairs from the Maurice Adams’ catalogue of 1926, showing how the wheelback form is virtually unchanged from the previous examples from a catalogue of 1908. The wheelback ‘carver’ shown below, has slightly more robust baluster-turned legs but the single chair is no different from the 1908 version. The cabriole-legged wheelbacks follow an earlier 18th century design, with ‘crinoline’ curved stretchers. The arm chair has the curved support to the arm as against the later, turned armed support on the turned-leg
chair.
Cabriole-leg single chair and turned-leg arm chair.
Two of the most commonly-produced kitchen, country, office or institutional chairs throughout the period. On the left a single chair, usually in beech or birch with an elm or beech/birch seat. On the right, a stick-back with broad top rail, of slightly Windsor derivation. 1860-1930
The smoker’s bow is now a popularly-hunted chair, fetching as much as 120 for certain versions in London. Good examples with opulently-turned fat baluster legs, like the one illustrated, are still to be found for much less around 90 each and thin, lesser versions for about 60. 1850-1940
A late 19th century chair which is a cross between a Windsor and a kitchen or office chair. It is very ornate, as the turning and the fretting of the centre splat show. There are still plenty of them about, although there has tended to be a drain of all these types of chair, particularly the Smoker’s Bow, to the export trade. 1850-1940
A typical kitchen armchair of the 19th century, on turned legs, much beloved of schools and other institutions up to the present day. Usually made in birch or beech and stained or varnished a dark colour. Sometimes the seat is made of elm. When stripped of stain or varnish to their natural colour, these chairs are often a pleasant golden brown.
Another 19th century country or kitchen chair, with a pleasantly arched and spindled decoration in the back. The seat is made of elm and the rest a pleasant, golden-coloured beech. The design was used for a long time; Shoolbred had it in 1876 and Skull in 1913. 1850-1920
A very pretty late 19th century chair with a seat which has been recovered. Usually these chairs had an impressed plywood seat, with a pattern embossed by pressure in it, usually finished in a lighter colour than the background. 1870-1900
A Worksop chair with robust baluster-turned legs and characteristic notched curved ends on the top rail. A fine example of this type of chair.
English Country Chairs
October 24th, 2009
CHAIRS — country, Northern England
These chairs fall into distinct categories and can normally be allocated to various parts of the country. Basically, they are either ladderbacks, with or without a top rail, or backs made up of vertical spindles. A great deal of research has been and is being carried out on this subject. For more information see an article by Bill Cotton, who has studied this subject in depth, on ‘Country Chairs’, Antique Collecting Vol.8, No.6.
From left to right, top to bottom-Wavy line ladderbacks. A similar chair is in a Hogarth print c.1730. There are a number of variations of these Yorkshire chairs which are hardwearing and generally considered the best of the type.
1730-1800 Armchair
A variation from the Midlands, missing half its top rail. Again, good quality but the back design is perhaps not quite as well balanced as the first example.
1740-1830 Set of two six
The Macclesfield variation of the second category. Again the rush seat comes over the front rail as with all chairs of this type. 1740-1840
The Wigan shape of ladderback is again seen on these wooden seated top-rail types with shaped front rail. A carver is very seldom found. 1760-1840
The third main type, the spindlebacks predominantly from north Cheshire and south Lancashire. It is thought that the further north the chairs were made in Lancashire the thinner the spindles. Another variety has two lines of spindles with a top rail between the uprights often with some Chippendale design feature on it. They are lighter and are thought to come from Liverpool and Manchester. 1750-1840
Quite a different variety coming from Ormskirk or the Preston area of Lancashire. Very robust. 1840-1900
These chairs fall into distinct categories and can normally be allocated to various parts of the country. Basically, they are either ladderbacks, with or without a top rail, or backs made up of vertical spindles. A great deal of research has been and is being carried out on this subject. For more information see an article by Bill Cotton, who has studied this subject in depth, on ‘Country Chairs’, Antique Collecting Vol.8, No.6.
From left to right, top to bottom-Wavy line ladderbacks. A similar chair is in a Hogarth print c.1730. There are a number of variations of these Yorkshire chairs which are hardwearing and generally considered the best of the type.
1730-1800 Armchair
A variation from the Midlands, missing half its top rail. Again, good quality but the back design is perhaps not quite as well balanced as the first example.
1740-1830 Set of two six
The Macclesfield variation of the second category. Again the rush seat comes over the front rail as with all chairs of this type. 1740-1840
The Wigan shape of ladderback is again seen on these wooden seated top-rail types with shaped front rail. A carver is very seldom found. 1760-1840
The third main type, the spindlebacks predominantly from north Cheshire and south Lancashire. It is thought that the further north the chairs were made in Lancashire the thinner the spindles. Another variety has two lines of spindles with a top rail between the uprights often with some Chippendale design feature on it. They are lighter and are thought to come from Liverpool and Manchester. 1750-1840
Quite a different variety coming from Ormskirk or the Preston area of Lancashire. Very robust. 1840-1900
Antique Cane-back Chairs
October 22nd, 2009
Carolean cane-back chair
Historical background
The art of twist turning and swash turning came to England from Spain and the Spanish Netherlands at the time of Charles II and revolutionized the shape of chairs, tables, stands and stools. Oak, which had previously been the dominating wood for furniture, was abandoned in favour of
Signs of authenticity
1. Walnut is particularly susceptible to worm: most chairs of this period have feet eaten away and boreholes noticeable in solid parts of timber.
2. If uprights are twist turned they all run in the same direction, not opposite, as in later Victorian copies.
3. Twists and turning are not even: hand-turning and carving is always slightly irregular in depth, and measurements differ fractionally between each twist.
4. Caning holes on seat frame and back worn, cutting through timber from tension: caning was part of the construction and as such, subject to considerable strain.
5. On arm versions, outward splay follows the line of the body: arms tenoned into fronts of back supports rather than sides.
6. Early chairs had no splay to back legs and tend to be top-heavy and unbalanced.
7. Crest rail carving deeply incised.
8. Deep patination on all parts of arms, seat and back.
Likely restoration and repair
9. Caning replaced in back and seat. Original caning was fine with star-shaped holes in weave. Modern caning has diamond-shaped holes.
10. Seat frame strengthened with blocks on inside corners.
11. Ornate crest rails and front stretchers may have been replaced, repaired.
12. Cane seat and back replaced with upholstered panel.
13. Caned backs replaced with carved panels; seats of wood.
walnut which was ideal for turning and carving. Many of these chairs were, however, quite successfully made in oak, although the carving on the ornate crest rails was not as crisp and as detailed. The whole design reflected the Continental taste for greater ornament and elegance, so typical of the Restoration period.
Because the cane back and seat weakened the construction of chairs, additional H-shaped stretchers gave added strength, as did a central stretcher between the back legs set on a level with the elaborately carved front rail. Later, as backs became exaggeratedly high in the William and Mary period and scrolled legs were set at an angle, X-stretchers joined the legs, sometimes with a small central finial. These chairs were often known as periwig’ chairs because the extreme height of their back seemed to mimic one of the fashionable hairstyles of the period.
Construction and materials
The best examples of these chairs were made in solid English walnut which was close-grained and far less liable to split when heavily carved and decorated. They were also made in oak with less decoration owing to the coarser grain of the wood, and in beech, painted and gilded. The cane back to the seats was usually square in English chairs and oval in Dutch designs.
On chairs without arms, the front legs continue above the seat to form ornamental bosses designed to hold a loose cushion, and from c.1670 most chairs with arms were also made to have cushions on their seats, with the lower seat rail set correspondingly high so as to be seen above the level of the cushion.
From c.1690, the construction suffered in favour of ornament, and crest rails were often simply pegged to the tops of the chairs between
Variations
Country versions were usually made in oak, but are sometimes to be found in mixtures of fruitwood and walnut, plane and sycamore, usually less ornately carved. They have wooden or rush seats and straight slatted backs, a raised bottom back rail for strength, and simple carving on the crest rail. The seats are often dished to take a cushion. They were also made with double stretchers on three sides, with a simple turned decorative stretcher in front. Another variation of later date has plain
the uprights. Front legs of single chairs were pegged into the undersides of seats – a construction which was hardly robust.
Detail
The crest rail, as its name implies, was originally heraldic and the carving varies from a fairly simple combination of ‘S’ and ‘C’ scrolls to the most intricate and ornate pierced work, of which the amorati – two little boys holding up a crown between them – is probably the best known. Carved and scrolled arms are also a common feature, but only the grandest chairs have scrolled feet. The majority of pieces have block feet, sometimes with a turned bobbin (usually worn or cut off) below. Reel-and-bobbin turning to stretchers, arm supports and even back supports is not unusual, though twist turning is commoner.
turned front legs, double side stretchers, a plain slatted back and a rush seat.
Left: late seventeenth century, high-backed chair, with simple G scrolled crest rail, bobbin and baluster turning and rush seat. Centre: Carolean, with delicate ‘boyes and crown’ crest rail. Oval cane panel may suggest Flemish origin.
Right: William and Mary stained beechwood armchair.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century
The most common are Victorian, in a mixture of early designs and later versions, with X-stretchers and a Flemish scroll on the crest rail. Another version has
upholstered seat and back panel, often in Berlin woolwork, with twist-turned uprights, scrolled feet and twist-turned legs and stretchers. The over-sleek,
slightly greenish-coloured copies of the periwig chair are a
familiar sight, with a lower
back, caned back panel and splayed back legs. They were first made in the Victorian
period, and have been
reproduced many times since.
Price bands
Walnut, c.1680, £1,500-2,250 pair.
Continental, c.1680, £1,000-1,500 pair.
Rush-seated country chairs, £300-400 each.
High-backed beechwood, £300-400 each.
Nineteenth-century reproduction, £50 75.
Antique Panel-back Chairs
October 22nd, 2009
Panel-back Chair
variations which are quite distinct and recognizable, for the feudal lords were still the equivalent of petty kings in their own territories.
Earlier versions have completely boxed-in seats, a design which lasted until the end of the sixteenth century and overlapped the more sophisticated design with turned legs, built more on the
Historical background
These chairs were among the earliest pieces of furniture to be elaborately decorated and, carved, as befitted the important seat of power they symbolized, whether ecclesiastical or temporal. There are many regional
Signs of authenticity
1. Well-worn oak, with no crisp edges. Carving should be worn and rounded with age and wear.
2. Panelled backs and seats of uneven thickness as wood was split and not sawn.
3. Same turning on front legs and arm supports.
4. Back legs slightly splayed, always square-sectioned, never decorated.
5. Panel grain vertical, not horizontal. Frame construction with chamfered panel to fit into grooves on the uprights, on the grain and not across it.
6. Dowelling and mortise-andtenon joints to stretchers, frieze, seat and back frame. No nails used in construction.
7. Thick build up of patination under arms and arm scrolls where chair has been handled.
8. Some damage and distressing to vulnerable front legs, front stretcher, arms.
Likely restoration and repair
9. Back panel replaced with different panel, often Flemish, taken from coffer, church panelling, etc. Decoration will not accord with crest rail or other decoration on chair.
10. Completely replaced chair back, planed out to resemble framing. Grain will run on over the top and bottom frame.
11. Front legs broken and replaced. Grain of front leg will change, often on ring-turning, or below frieze where it has been joined.
12. Original plain back `improved’, usually by
Victorians, often with early date added, in carving of wrong technique for the period, or with patriotic symbols:
Scottish thistles, etc.
principle of the joint stool. Panelled backs persisted long after the base of the chair had lost its enclosed, coffered construction. Plain chairs without arms, which derived from this pattern, formed the basis of many country chairs for centuries, and the straight-backed, panelled chair continued to be made well into the eighteenth century.
Construction and materials
Like all furniture of this early period, the panel-back chair was made of oak, quarter cut and split, with a ripple in the grain. The solid stretchers were often at ground level, reminiscent of its origins as a boxed-in chair. Where the stretchers are raised off the ground, legs always terminate in square block feet to take the width of the stretcher tenoned into it. Arm supports were a continuation of the front legs and the sides of the back panelling were a continuation of the back legs.
Detail
Arms were often scrolled, but square in section rather than rounded and often had carved decoration on the outer side.
The top rail or crest rail was elaborately carved and often ended in scroll ‘ears’.
Some chairs had plain backs, richly painted and gilded while others had carved backs with architectural elements – arches, architraves, columns, pillars and arcaded or geometrical strapwork –more reminiscent of the stonemason’s, than the carpenter’s craft. Stylized scrollwork and foliage is also to be found richly and deeply carved; rarely one might find carved heraldic devices or royalist symbols.
Variations
Variations are regional and quite distinct. The North country design is distinguishable by its overrunning carved sides either side of the arms, and elaborately carved crest rail terminating in rounded scrolls. The East Anglian design frequently featured an arched panel in the back, which fanned out on a level with the arms and not below, as in the North country version.
Northern chairs are heavier, with more ornate scrolled carving incorporating leaves with column-
turned or reel-turned legs, whereas southern counties followed more fashionable shapes, such as the baluster and a simple cup and cover or acorn shape for legs and arm supports. The straight-backed chair without arms also has distinct regional variations, notably the Yorkshire and the Lancashire, both of which derive from the armed chair, and have shaped crest rails and distinctive though simplified carved scrolled ends or ‘ears’.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century
Whole sets of ‘Lancashire’ and ‘Yorkshire’ chairs were made to match up with the bulbous-
legged ‘medieval’ tables made for dining in Victorian baronial halls, recognizable principally by the grain and colour of the oak, which is sawcut, stained and uniformly dark and lacklustre. Although the carving was shallow, these chairs were too ornamented, with frilled aprons and exaggeratedly curving, scrolling arms. The carved backs and crest rails were made in a single piece, with the grain running from top to bottom, with shallow carving in the wrong designs. The carved crest rail was made separately and pegged to the top rail.
Stretchers are too high off the ground and often the whole design has been ‘modified’ to what was considered to be better proportions and decoration.
Single chairs were made to approximately the same design for public buildings, hotels, institutions and assembly halls, with plain panelled backs, or with leather backs studded to the sides, and overstuffed leather seats, also studded, a design that lasted well into the twentieth century.
Price bands
Plain backed, with ‘ears’, £2,000-3,000.
Genuine period carved back, rare, 15,000 +.
Eighteenth-century country version, no arms, 185-100. Set of six, £ 650-750.
Nineteenth-century reproductions, £10-20.
Variations, far left: James 1, South Yorkshire or Derbyshire chair,
with scrolled ‘ears’ and sophisticated turned and fluted arm supports and front legs. Left: seventeenth century panel-backed chair, with baluster turned legs and high front stretcher.
variations which are quite distinct and recognizable, for the feudal lords were still the equivalent of petty kings in their own territories.
Earlier versions have completely boxed-in seats, a design which lasted until the end of the sixteenth century and overlapped the more sophisticated design with turned legs, built more on the
Historical background
These chairs were among the earliest pieces of furniture to be elaborately decorated and, carved, as befitted the important seat of power they symbolized, whether ecclesiastical or temporal. There are many regional
Signs of authenticity
1. Well-worn oak, with no crisp edges. Carving should be worn and rounded with age and wear.
2. Panelled backs and seats of uneven thickness as wood was split and not sawn.
3. Same turning on front legs and arm supports.
4. Back legs slightly splayed, always square-sectioned, never decorated.
5. Panel grain vertical, not horizontal. Frame construction with chamfered panel to fit into grooves on the uprights, on the grain and not across it.
6. Dowelling and mortise-andtenon joints to stretchers, frieze, seat and back frame. No nails used in construction.
7. Thick build up of patination under arms and arm scrolls where chair has been handled.
8. Some damage and distressing to vulnerable front legs, front stretcher, arms.
Likely restoration and repair
9. Back panel replaced with different panel, often Flemish, taken from coffer, church panelling, etc. Decoration will not accord with crest rail or other decoration on chair.
10. Completely replaced chair back, planed out to resemble framing. Grain will run on over the top and bottom frame.
11. Front legs broken and replaced. Grain of front leg will change, often on ring-turning, or below frieze where it has been joined.
12. Original plain back `improved’, usually by
Victorians, often with early date added, in carving of wrong technique for the period, or with patriotic symbols:
Scottish thistles, etc.
principle of the joint stool. Panelled backs persisted long after the base of the chair had lost its enclosed, coffered construction. Plain chairs without arms, which derived from this pattern, formed the basis of many country chairs for centuries, and the straight-backed, panelled chair continued to be made well into the eighteenth century.
Construction and materials
Like all furniture of this early period, the panel-back chair was made of oak, quarter cut and split, with a ripple in the grain. The solid stretchers were often at ground level, reminiscent of its origins as a boxed-in chair. Where the stretchers are raised off the ground, legs always terminate in square block feet to take the width of the stretcher tenoned into it. Arm supports were a continuation of the front legs and the sides of the back panelling were a continuation of the back legs.
Detail
Arms were often scrolled, but square in section rather than rounded and often had carved decoration on the outer side.
The top rail or crest rail was elaborately carved and often ended in scroll ‘ears’.
Some chairs had plain backs, richly painted and gilded while others had carved backs with architectural elements – arches, architraves, columns, pillars and arcaded or geometrical strapwork –more reminiscent of the stonemason’s, than the carpenter’s craft. Stylized scrollwork and foliage is also to be found richly and deeply carved; rarely one might find carved heraldic devices or royalist symbols.
Variations
Variations are regional and quite distinct. The North country design is distinguishable by its overrunning carved sides either side of the arms, and elaborately carved crest rail terminating in rounded scrolls. The East Anglian design frequently featured an arched panel in the back, which fanned out on a level with the arms and not below, as in the North country version.
Northern chairs are heavier, with more ornate scrolled carving incorporating leaves with column-
turned or reel-turned legs, whereas southern counties followed more fashionable shapes, such as the baluster and a simple cup and cover or acorn shape for legs and arm supports. The straight-backed chair without arms also has distinct regional variations, notably the Yorkshire and the Lancashire, both of which derive from the armed chair, and have shaped crest rails and distinctive though simplified carved scrolled ends or ‘ears’.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century
Whole sets of ‘Lancashire’ and ‘Yorkshire’ chairs were made to match up with the bulbous-
legged ‘medieval’ tables made for dining in Victorian baronial halls, recognizable principally by the grain and colour of the oak, which is sawcut, stained and uniformly dark and lacklustre. Although the carving was shallow, these chairs were too ornamented, with frilled aprons and exaggeratedly curving, scrolling arms. The carved backs and crest rails were made in a single piece, with the grain running from top to bottom, with shallow carving in the wrong designs. The carved crest rail was made separately and pegged to the top rail.
Stretchers are too high off the ground and often the whole design has been ‘modified’ to what was considered to be better proportions and decoration.
Single chairs were made to approximately the same design for public buildings, hotels, institutions and assembly halls, with plain panelled backs, or with leather backs studded to the sides, and overstuffed leather seats, also studded, a design that lasted well into the twentieth century.
Price bands
Plain backed, with ‘ears’, £2,000-3,000.
Genuine period carved back, rare, 15,000 +.
Eighteenth-century country version, no arms, 185-100. Set of six, £ 650-750.
Nineteenth-century reproductions, £10-20.
Variations, far left: James 1, South Yorkshire or Derbyshire chair,
with scrolled ‘ears’ and sophisticated turned and fluted arm supports and front legs. Left: seventeenth century panel-backed chair, with baluster turned legs and high front stretcher.
Antique Hall Chair
October 13th, 2009
Hall Chairs
Small, formal and more decorative than functional hall chairs were first named by Robert Manwaring, a furniture designer, in The Chair-Makers Real Friend and Companion, published in 1865.
Thomas Sheraton noted in The Cabinet Dictionary that chairs such as those that are placed in halls are for the use of servants or strangers waiting on business”. These wooden chairs were usual])- smaller than side
chairs. They had turned seats and often had the crest or arms of the farmily carved or painted on the chair back. Some chairs were made with plain backs so that families could have their own insignia carved or painted onto the basic chair.
The hall chair first appeared when Thomas Chippendale illustrated six designs of chairs for ‘Halls. Passages, or Summer-Houses’ in his Director.
Rival cabinet-makers, William Ice and John Mathew published three designs for hall chairs in the gothic taste” in their serialized pattern book, The Universal System off Household Furniture (1759-02). If it was too
expensive to carve the decorative crest on the back, then it was considered acceptable to “be painted, and have a very, good effect”.
Hall chairs These illustrations are from Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker’s Director, 1762 (Plate XVII).
ENGLISH HALL CHAIR
One of a pair, this mahogany chair is modelled on the Renaissance sgabello chair. It has a shaped, waisted back and shaped seat. The front support and seat have indented panels, designed to bear a crest. c.1780.
FRENCH HALL CHAIR
This chair, one of a set of four, has a pierced wheel back with a central, raised, circular plaque. The wide, slightly dished seat is supported on tapered legs, and the front legs terminate in spade feet. c.1770.