CHAIRS — balloon back
The nineteenth century saw the development of many new styles of which the dominant one from 1840-1880s was the balloon back with cabriole and turned legs. The evolution is clear but one has only to look at The Pictorial Dictionary of 19th Century Furniture Design to see how style persisted, often over [...]

CHAIRS — turned leg, 1800-1840
The turned leg chairs of the 1800-1840 period derive from late Sheraton and other, usually classical, design influences of the period. Whereas the overall shape is clearly recognisable, an infinite variety of decorative
designs were used and it is again very difficult to range the quality of the enormous output.
A fine quality [...]

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 [...]

CHAIRS — cabriole leg, low back
The lower back chairs are normally associated with the George I period. Certainly the design settled down around the 1720s and carved decoration became increasingly used.
A good George I example. The seat rail is much deeper than those of the previous section and the back is lower. The carved shell [...]

Sabre Leg Chairs
While variations in quality obviously exist, chairs with sabre legs do not go through the same gradations as previous types, perhaps because the country makers instinctively avoided them, mindful of the structural
weakness implied in the sabre leg, which must be cut across the grain at some point. The scrolling arms, with their wide [...]

CHAIRS — Hepplewhite
Hepplewhite designs are found along with Sheraton in the 1775-1790 period. They were both influenced by classical designs —a search for elegance. The main Hepplewhite forms are shown in this section.
A camel back design with 9 serpentine front and drop-in seat. The legs are Chippendale in form except that they now taper instead [...]

Victorian button-back chair
The relative austerity of Regency furniture and the soft clinging clothes worn by the ladies of the period were ousted during William IV’s reign by the new ‘Naturalistic’ line. Furniture became more curvaceous, seats of chairs wider to accommodate the increasing volume of ladies’ skirts and gentlemen’s frock coats, both of which were [...]

Sheraton chair
Even at its most decorative and ornate, Sheraton furniture is made with very little integral ornament, and relies for its originality and sparkle on painting and gilding, inlay and japanning. Sheraton was puritan by conviction and by nature, favouring straight lines rather than curves, and multipurpose space-saving furniture for the ranks of Georgian terraced [...]

Hepplewhite shield-back chair
George Hepplewhite started his career as an apprentice to Gillows of Lancaster, and is the first recorded furniture designer to work for a large company of furniture manufacturers. His pattern book, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide,
Signs of authenticity
1. Correct proportions laid down by Hepplewhite: height of seat frame 17 in, depth of [...]

Adam round-back chair
Signs of authenticity
1. Fine, crisp carving in low relief in beech or dense-grained mahogany.
2. Seats overstuffed or upholstered, not drop-in.
3. Back legs raked and slightly splayed.
4. Hooped back in three
separate pieces: the two side-rails and hooped crest rail.
5. On chairs with central
pierced splat, separate shoe-piece attached to back seat rail.
6. Edge moulding and [...]