CHAIRS  reproductions, 1880-1930
The return to 18th century styles in the 1880s affected chairs almost more than other furniture. Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite chairs were produced in varying grades of quality and exactitude. Queen Anne cabriole legs with ‘fiddle’ backs soon followed and, of course, the medieval oak craze had to be met by chair makers …
A mahogany ‘Chippendale’ chair of some considerable quality. The carved splat is of Gothic style in its origins and the scrolled cabriole legs end in ball-and-claw feet. It is still unmistakably Victorian, however, from its slightly narrow proportions. 1880-1900
A highly-carved ‘Chippendale’ chair with a wool-work tapestry seat. The narrow proportions, particularly of the back, proclaim it to be Victorian. The cabriole legs, which are elegantly carved, show that incipient bandyness and weakness at the ankle which are also characteristic.
A mahogany ‘Chippendale’ chair with a back of c,uite faithful reproduction. The seat is, however, smaller than the original would have been and the seat rai. has been made the same width as the legs. The original would have been more likely to have a deeper seat rail even if the legs were of the same proportions.
A mahogany ‘Chippendale’ ladderback chair with carved pierced rails to the back, which is well executed. The seat and the square legs are, again, small and thin compared with the 18th century original; the seat rail is not deep enough.
Typical mass-produced ‘Chippendale’ style chairs with rexine (imitation leather) covered drop-in seats. No problems of confusion with the originals here; both ‘carvers’ and single chairs are of proportion and dimensions well away from the 18th century. The Gothic style back splat is quite a good copy of an original design. 1890-1930
A mahogany `Hepplewhite’ chair of very good proportion, on moulded square tapering front legs. The back is a variation of the shield back, curved in shape with carving on the rails. The seat is full and bold, serpentine-shaped at the front and worthy of the original.
A classic shield-back ‘Hepplewhite’ chair with carved Prince of Wales’ feathers in the back design. The tapering square legs and slightly bowed seat are copied faithfully from the original and the proportion is good. A well-made chair like this was very much more expensive than a mass-produced, thin ‘Chippendale’ design  about nine guineas for this as against one and a half for the mass-produced item.
A mahogany wheel-back ‘Hepplewhite’ chair of good proportion and workmanship. The carving of the back is a considerable achievement and, with wear, and without sight of the unpolished areas, such chairs can be difficult to tell from an original period chair. 1890-1920, but could be made even now
A mahogany arm chair in Sheraton style with inlaid boxwood stringing lines as decoration. There is also an inlaid oval satinwood and marquetry panel in the broad top rail. These panels were available ready-made by machine from the trade.
Not quite Sheraton and not quite Edwardian ‘own brand’, these small chairs still owe more to the late 18th and early 19th century than to the 1900-1910 period in which they were made. The back is a Sheraton design-book copy and the tapering square legs end in block feet. 1890-1910
An example of the mahogany ‘Queen Anne’ style of dining chair which had a great vogue from around 1900 to 1940. They do not seek to emulate original Queen Anne period chairs too closely  these examples are usually mahogany or stained to look like it, and mahogany was not used in quantity until after 1730  and they are mass-produced in unmistakably economic ways, so there is little problem in differentiating them from the originals.
Elegant mahogany chairs based on a Queen Anne design and of a shape quite popular in the early 20th century. The front legs are an English variation on the cabriole, usually associated with country makers. The back curves are restrained without being stiff. The central panel of the back is caned and the pincushion seat is covered with a striped tapestry. Intended as an occasional chair but would now be sold for dining.
Four more variations on the popular `Jacobean’ chair theme, with pincushion seats covered in rexine (an imitation leather). More expensive than the previous examples because the stretchers between the legs are turned as well, not just left square for cheapness. The pair on the right have abandoned the twist turning normally used and have turned pillar supports capped by finials instead. (The rather elaborately carved top rail was not popular on post-1920 versions.) 1890-1920
Typical ‘Jacobean’ chairs, in oak, of a type also very popular from 1890-1940, made to go with the bulbous-legged refectory-style table of the ‘Jacobethan’ dining room. Twist turning is the key to these chairs which owe their form to the second half of the 17th century.
The end of the line for the ‘Jacobethan’ style. An oak chair with twist turning in prominent places and cheap square sections elsewhere. The drop-in seat is covered in rexine.
An oak arm and a single chair in ‘Carolean’ style with caned back and seat panels. They are fairly faithful reproductions of chairs of the Restoration period of 1680-1690, showing the elaborately-carved scrolled front stretcher between the front legs echoed in the top rail of the high back. They would be detected by the lack of age and wear apparent in them, and by their colour. Such chairs were originally made of birch, beech, oak or walnut and stained black. They are very decorative but not popular as dining chairs due to the
weakness of the seat jointing to the back and legs; the very thinness of the seat frame makes the joints very susceptible to breakage by weight or leverage. Nevertheless, this design, of all reproductions, is probably the one most faithfully copied. 1890-1930
A pair of oak bobbin-turned chairs in the style of 1660-1680 with leather covered backs and seats, peppered with large brass-headed studs like a pair of Restoration Hell’s Angels! These must surely have met the taste for medievalism with a vengeance. The bobbin-turned stretchers and the legs, with their square-section joints, look like faithful copies of the originals.
Another pair of oak chairs, known as Cromwellian in style, which emulate those of 1650-1670. They are similar to the previous examples but the more severe column turning of  the legs, with plain square stretchers joining them at ground level, is perhaps more apposite to the Protector’s time. Covered in velvet and just right for that big reproduction refectory table in the dining room.
An oak chair of square design in emulation of the 1650-1670 period and often known as ‘Cromwellian’. The turning on the front legs is not of a period type.
A ‘Queen Anne’ style chinoiserie chair of considerable quality. There was a revival of lacquer of this type in the 1920s and 1930s, with some high quality ‘reproductions’, in somewhat free interpretations, being produced.
1920-1930 For the single armchair. A set of two plus four singles
A reproduction of a caned French chair which, in Britain, has connotations of Adam and other classical styles. The chair is gilded over a gesso surface and has, unfortunately, an air of belonging to a ballroom or dining room of an old-fashioned hotel.

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

Windsor chairs

Although these chairs are usually attributed to the end of the eighteenth century, their origins go back much further, and chairs of similar design are known to have been made as early as the end of the seventeenth century. Their construction is entirely different from any other type of country chair, and relates more
Signs of authenticity
1. Figuring of grain clearly visible on underside of seat as well as surface — timber was split, not sawn.
2. On chairs with arms, yew wood arm hoop until c.1790.
3. Back and front legs with matching turning.
4. No nails, joints of any description other than plain taper-turned tenons on all joins.
5. Saddle shape to seats, on versions with and without arms.
6. On chairs with arms without V-support and ‘bob tail’, grain running from side to side on seat.
7. On chairs with V-supports, and ‘bob tail’, grain running front to back.
8. Uneven thicknesses of ’sticks’ on all hand-made chairs.
9. Back feet more worn from use than front feet.
10. Worn, rich patination on seat and all parts in contact with body.
11. On hooped backs, ends of hoops split and wedged under seat for added strength.
Likely restoration and repair
12. Legs replaced, so no wear on feet.
13. Sticks replaced and these not taper-turned.
14. Seats not saddle-shaped suggests recent reproductions.
15. Saw-marks on undersides of seats indicates recent manufacture. Seat timber was split not sawn.
16. Hoops not dowelled right through seat or split and wedged indicates recent manufacture.
17. Legs replaced with wrong timber, often elm, to match seat. Should be beech, birch or fruitwood.
closely to the joint stool than to any other early chair. It is probable that they evolved from the simplest form of seat furniture of all - the three-legged stool.
In the case of Windsor chairs, it is not the backs, arms or legs which are the most important feature. It is the seat, made of a single slab of wood, usually elm, and worked with an adze into a saddle shape. This single
feature remains constant in all true Windsors, with or without arms.
The bending properties of yew wood had long been known, since it was the wood from
which longbows were made. The first use of a yew-wood bow on Windsors was not the upright hoop but a circular back and arm support, parallel to the chair seat. Originally the legs were simply pegged into the
Construction and materials thick seat-timber without stretchers. and splayed to wedge them. A row of holes was dowelled round the seat, and straight taper-turned ’sticks’ joined oined the arm-hoop to the seat, continuing up to form a curved back. held in place by a simple crest rail.
These early Windsors are often known as ’stick-backs’ or ‘comb backs’ because the shaped crest rail resembles a comb. It was not a very solid construction, and sticks and legs
became insecure and fell apart with use and as the timber shrank. But as long as the seat was intact, the pieces could easily be replaced, since they were extremely simply made. This rudimentary design seems to have been made independently by foresters and wood-turners all over the country, with regional differences in woods and detail, wherever there were good supplies of suitable timber. They are found in the West Country, and the Midlands, and notably in Buckinghamshire, in and around High Wycombe, which later became the heart of English chair-making, and has continued to be the centre of the industry until the present.
Improvements in the rudimentary design were soon apparent: a thicker central splat, often only below the arm-hoop, appears on many chairs before the full-length decorative central splat. Stretchers were inevitable to make the construction more solid. They were either very simple, joining the front and back legs on either side, or H-shaped, taper-tenoned and swelling in the centre. Extra support was given to stick-backs with a short extension to the back of the seat, with two extra stays in a V-shape behind the back.
It is hard to determine precisely when the hoop back first became a feature of Windsor chairs, but certainly it was contemporary with Hepplewhite’s round-back chairs. Up to this period, the arm hoop was still a relatively open curve, but with improved steaming and bending wood, introduced continued overleaf.
Reproductions
Victorian
Windsor chairs have been in continuous production quite authentically until the end of the nineteenth century, with small differences in methods of manufacture. As is to be expected, those made during Victorian times, such as the smoker’s bow, have rather more bulbous turning than earlier periods, but not enough to detract from their obviously traditional pattern.
Twentieth century
Everyone should be familiar with the innumerable mass-produced versions - usually singles - made by furniture-makers with well-known names. Their chief difference lies in the materials: machine-sawn woods for seats, with no figured grain on the underside and very little on the seat surface, steamed hoops, straight ’sticks’ without taper turning, machine cut and fretted centre splats and identical machine-turned legs.
Recently, smoker’s bows have been made in blonde woods, and in cheap pale woods, stained and ebonized. Some are of excellent quality but will not endure one quarter the length of time as an original Windsor. Most of them are not cheap, and with diligent hunting it is still possible to find genuine Windsors in twos and threes, and even sixes, for the same price, though they are more likely to be of the less attractive ‘kitchen chair’ type than hooped backs, which are now extremely scarce.
Genuine Windsor chairs dating from the eighteenth century are extremely expensive and sought after. Even late nineteenth century Windsor chairs with hooped backs can cost as much as their dining-room counterparts. Good Windsor chairs with arms are very much in demand.
Variations

Invariably the saddle seat was made from well-seasoned elm, a wood which did not warp with damp and was less likely to shrink or split than oak. Ash is also sometimes found in some districts. Legs were often of straight-grained beech, easy to work and turn, and less liable to wear. Arm hoops were almost always of yew wood until the beginning of the nineteenth century. The ’sticks’ were of ash, beech, birch or fruitwood - pliant woods with spring, rather than solid woods like oak and elm which are more rigid and liable to split. All four legs were turned to the same pattern and pegged or tenoned into holes in the seat, often with the dowels continuing right through the seat, as on joint stools. Stretchers were plain H-shaped on most straightforward Windsors, taper-turned and tenoned into the legs. In the mid-eighteenth century the ‘cow’s horn’ or crinoline stretcher was a feature of Windsors with arms, curving back from the two front legs and joined to the back legs with two angled, taper-turned stretchers. On these chairs, legs and arm supports were of a simplified baluster shape with ring turning. The hooped back on armed chairs is pegged right through the arm hoop - on chairs without arms, right through the seat. The back ,sticks’ are the full height of the chair, running through the arm hoop from seat to crest.

Windsor chair towards the end of the eighteenth century, woods other than yew could be used. It was steamed and bent, then clamped and cooled in the shape of a horse-shoe or hoop. By this time there had already been many refinements in the basic design: legs were bobbin-turned, front and back, as were the arm supports. Cabriole legs were used in the mid-eighteenth century, in most cases not very successfully as far as design was concerned. During the `Chippendale period’ many chair-makers attempted variations on the ‘Gothic’ with some curious results.
The two best-known designs for the central splat of the hoop back are the ‘wheelback’ and the ‘Prince of Wales’ feathers’, both contemporary with Hepplewhite. It was probably around this period that these essentially country chairs were dignified with the name
`Windsor’, by which they have been known ever since
Child’s high chair, early nineteenth century, in elm, ash and yew, with cow’s horn or crinoline stretcher. The footrest is missing.
Price bands
Elm and yew smoker’s bow,£.150–200.
Comb back in yew, ash and elm, £240-450.
Child’s high chair, £650-750.
Cabriole leg, eighteenth century, £850-1,200.
Nineteenth-century ‘kitchen’ chair, £85-160.
Highly-prized late eighteenth-century Windsor, with Cabriole legs, crinoline stretcher, well-designed pierced back splat and curving arm supports.
Elm and yew smoker’s bow, with rather bulbous Victorian turned legs and arm supports.
Early nineteenth-century comb back.
From the beginning of the nineteenth century the hoop back armchair was made in a design known as a ’smoker’s bow’. This was a squat version of an arm chair, with a flat bow cut from a single piece of wood, with a dumpy little crest rail dowelled on to the back. The ’sticks’ were far stouter, and were usually bobbin-turned, splaying out from the seat and dowelled into the underside of the flat armpiece. Hooped-back armchairs, wheelbacks and Prince of Wales’ feathers designs have rather eclipsed all other varieties of the Windsor chair such as the rail back, the lathe back and the spindle back.
The two factors which characterize a Windsor remain constant however: a solid seat into which the legs are pegged or tenoned, and a separate back structure, pegged or tenoned into the seat. No Windsor chair has back legs which continue up to form the supports of the back.
Late nineteenth-century
version of classic Windsor, with heavy arms, crest rail and thick back splats.

Queen Anne wing chair

The Palladian architecture of the early eighteenth century suited the English landscape beautifully, but the high ceilings and spaciousness of the interiors were more suited to warmer climates. Porters in draughty halls sat out their on-duty hours in deep, hooded chairs which almost entirely enclosed them. In drawing rooms, their masters and mistresses sat protected from draughts in high-backed wing chairs, elegantly upholstered in fine needlework. In libraries, wing chairs were leather-covered and edged with rows of brass studs.
The square shapes of earlier periods gave way to curving lines and hooped backs to seating furniture, which was designed for comfort as well as elegance. Over two and a half centuries have passed and the design of the winged chair has remained virtually unchanged.
Signs of authenticity
1. Beech, plane or sycamore frame, with rust, dirt and embedded fabric where original upholstery was secured to the frame with square-headed iron nails.
2. Front legs continue up to form the corners of the seat frame.
3. Flowing S-curve of the arms, ending in rounded arm rests, curved and tapering down to the seat frame.
4. Back legs continue up above back seat level, raked inward before sloping gently outward to form shape of raked back.
5. Cabriole legs short, well-proportioned, with or without carving on the knee.
6. With pad feet and stretchers, the join is always into square-sectioned blocks, the stretchers usually H-shaped.
Likely restoration and repair
7. Almost certainly completely re-upholstered at least once in its lifetime.
8. Frames rebuilt, repaired, particularly on arms, which may have broken outwards and been pinned.
9. Back legs broken and replaced.
10. The whole built up from two good cabriole legs, perhaps from a stool or other piece of furniture.
11. No wing chair should be bought as genuine unless the underframe is visible at some part – particularly on the joins of the legs.
Construction and materials
The key shape of the eighteenth century wing chair is the curve, with the line carried down to the neat curve of the short cabriole legs in front and the splay of the back legs. For the first decade of the eighteenth century the seats were deep, and the arms set more or less square, but from c.1710 the seats flared out to accommodate the wide hooped skirts and full coattails of fashionable dress. The frames were made of beech, plane or sycamore — woods which could be close-nailed without splitting. Cabriole legs were of walnut until c.1720, and then of mahogany. They were upholstered with tow or horsehair, bound with webbing, and covered first with hessian and then with calico before the final upholstery in leather or needlework.
Detail
Early eighteenth-century wing chairs had little carved decoration on the front leg ‘knee’ (more elaborate carving became fashionable after c.1720 with the introduction into England of mahogany). They had shaped squab seats and frames were studded with small brass-headed nails around the outer sides of the wings and on the base above the legs, particularly when upholstered in leather.
In the early eighteenth century, front legs ended in plain pad feet and stretchers were slender. After x1730, heavier ball-and-claw feet were preferred and stretchers were often omitted altogether.
Variations
Upholstered furniture of any kind was a luxury until the mid-Victorian period and was not made or used by any but the well-to-do.
The equivalent of the wing-back chair in country furniture is the high-backed, oak settle to seat three or four people near the fire, with wings to keep out the draught, and the high-backed, so-called `lambing chair’ which was simply a single version of the long settle. Later, Windsor chairs became the country equivalent of the upholstered wing chair.
Below: wing chair with crisp outlines, c.1710.
Right: ‘Porter’s chair’.
Reproductions
There has been virtually no break in the production of winged chairs of one sort of another since they were first made. Some later eighteenth century wing chairs have wide ribbed backs and are more curved, with shorter arms, but most originals are very hard to find in any good state. The only major change in construction came in 1828 with the invention of the coiled spring for upholstered furniture. In the mid-Victorian period some chairs were made with cast-iron frames, a short-lived idea because of their extreme weight.
Above: nineteenth-century version, with bulging arm supports, drooping wings and insignificant legs.
Price bands
Eighteenth century, with original upholstery, k5,000
Eighteenth century, with later upholstery,
0,500-4,500.
Eighteenth century, with pad feet and stretchers, £2,500-3,500.
Nineteenth-century reproductions, £450 700.

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.

Late 1700`s Chair

The variety of chairs burgeoned in the mid to late 18th century, with French styles remaining popular. Although elements of the Rococo style lingered, chairs began to look more Neoclassical and became squarer and straighter. cabriole legs were rejected in favour of turned, tapered supports, often fluted or decorated with reeding, and oval and rectangular-    backs became more common.
Different types of chair evolved: the bergere remained the same stylistically, but the frame was often simply waxed, rather than painted and gilded, as in the first half of the century. Desk
chairs and corner chairs, which were popular at the beginning of the period, had shaped backs. The shield back became fashionable towards the end of the century, with the pierced splats incorporating a wide range of Neoclassical motifs. Desk chairs usually had rounded seat rails and often had an extra leg at the centre of the seat rail, making five legs in total.
Corner chairs, like hall chairs, were small and designed to be decorative rather than useful. They were usually rather fragile, as they were not designed for regular use.
At first, chairs were ordered individually, but from the mid century onwards, sets of furniture known as suites became more popular. These varied from small groups of matching chairs to extensive suites that included a number of pieces, such as armchairs, side chairs, bergeres, window seats, stools, and sofas.
Any decoration on hall and corner chairs was likely to be carved, but more expensive armchairs and their matching side chairs, designed for grander rooms, were often delicately painted or highlighted with gilding.
The top rail is waxed, rather than painted.
The sides of the chair are fully upholstered.
LOUIS XV BERGERE
This chair shows how Rococo style adapted to Neoclassical fashion. The beech frame retains a carved, serpentine top rail and cabriole legs, but is waxed. The chair is upholstered in blue silk.
The armrest is upholstered where the sitter’s arm is placed.
A simple C-scroll connects the arm to the cabriole leg.
The rear leg extends outwards.
LOUIS XVI DESK CHAIR
This French tub desk chair has a curved and lightly carved seat rail, and the seat, back, and sides are all upholstered in leather. It has Neoclassical turned and tapered armrests and legs. c.1780.
QUEEN ANNE CORNER CHAIR
This walnut chair has a crest rail with a raised yoke centre, shaped arms, and solid, vase-shaped splats. It has one front cabriole leg and three turned legs, all with slipper feet. c.1770-1800.
SOUTH AFRICAN CORNER CHAIR
This chair is made from native stinkwood and yellow wood. The pierced back splats are reminiscent of Chippendale designs. The square, chamfered legs are connected by stretchers. c.1780
NEW YORK CORNER CHAIR
This mahogany chair has a top rail with a raised yoke centre, carved knuckle handholds, and vase-shaped splats. The deep seat rail is supported on three cabriole legs with slipper feet and one rear turned leg. c.1750.
GEORGE III HALL CHAIR
This mahogany hall chair has a cartoucheshaped back. Within the C- and S-scrolled frame are carved heraldic elements, including an Irish harp and crown. The piece terminates in panelled, tapering legs. c.1770.
GEORGE III HALL CHAIR
One of a set of four, this mahogany chair has a typically Neoclassical oval back. The solid mahogany seat overhangs the front rail. Tapering legs support the frame and a stretcher connects the rear legs. c.1780.
CHINESE CORNER CHAIR
This rosewood chair has a central leg with a shell carved on the knee, and it terminates in a claw-and-ball foot. Attenuated turned stretchers anchor the legs. c.1780.
GEORGE III CORNER CHAIR
This provincial oak chair is one of a pair. The seat is composed of three planks of oak. Turned spindles connect the seat to the rounded back, a technique often seen on Windsor chairs c.1800.
ENGLISH HALL CHAIR
This mahogany chair has a balloon-shaped back that fits into a shoe at the base. The seat is solid mahogany with a circular lowered section. The tapered legs terminate in squared ends. c.1790
CHINESE HALL CHAIR
This chair was made for export to the West. The solid splats are decorated with an inlay. The dish-moulded seat is shaped at the edges. Square, chamfered legs are joined by stretchers. c.1760.
ENGLISH HALL CHAIRS
These mahogany hall chairs have central veneered tablets, and pierced, waisted supports. The seats are slightly bowed and framed with panels. The turned, blocked legs are joined by cross-stretchers.
c 1780.

Early XVIII Century Chairs

EARLY in the 18th Century, Queen Anne-style chairs had a solid, narrow splat, usually of a vase or baluster shape, which fitted into the centre of the back rail. The frame tended to be straight and narrow, with rounded shoulders, and the seat was rounded or balloon-shaped with an upholstered seat.
Queen Anne chairs were usually made of walnut, although vernacular versions were made of elm or oak. They had slightly cabriole legs and pad feet. The earliest versions had Hat or turned stretchers.
During the second quarter of the 18th century, squared seats became more common. The seat rails were shallower and often shaped, and sometimes had carved or applied shells in the centre. Chair backs had
serpentine crest rails terminating in scrolls or volutes and the back splat was wider. The upper section of the back splat sometimes had scrolled ears close to the intersection with the top rail. On very fine examples,
splats were sometimes carved at the edges.
The knees of cabriole legs were now more pronounced and frequently carved with shells or husks, or had carved volutes attached below them. Most chairs still had pad feet, but claw-and-ball feet first appeared in
about 1725 in Britain and around 1740 in the American colonies.
Chinese furniture makers produced chairs that were similar in style for the lucrative European market.
The back splats is solid and an inverted baluster shape.
Carved roundels echo the decoration on the crest rail.
Shell motifs are often found on cabriole legs of the period.
ENGLISH SIDE CHAIR
This is the ultimate example of a George I side chair. The solid, inverted baluster-shaped back splat slips into a shaped shoe. Rounded shoulders form a continuous S-shape to the stiles, which terminate in volutes.
Carved shells adorn the centre of the crest rail and appear on the shaped knees. The balloon-shaped seat is
upholstered in needlepoint. The front of t-e seat rail has a cartouche in the centre. The cabriole front legs have claw-and- ball fee- the back legs have block feet. This type of chair was copied all over Britain, Europe.
the colonies, with chair-makers drawing various elements depending on their cl
c.1720.
ENGLISH SIDE CHAIR
This is an early example of a Queen Anne side chair. The back splat is solid, the shoulders and stiles are slightly curved, and the slip seat is balloon-shaped. The chair is attributed to John Yorke on the basis of the
design and construction. c.1710.
CHINESE ARMCHAIR
This open-style armchair, made of solid padouk, incorporates a variety of different elements. The solid splat is shaped but the stiles below the shoulders remain straight. The splayed cabriole legs are shorter than those seen on European examples. c.1740.
AMERICAN SIDE CHAIR
This walnut chair from Massachusetts displays a mixture of styles. It has the slim back splat and turned stretchers popular at the beginning of the century, while the square slip seat and curved legs are more typical of the mid century. It represents a transition between Queen Anne and Chippendale styles. c.1745.
PERUVIAN ARMCHAIR
This mahogany chair reflects the Rococo style. The crest rail has asymmetrical central carving. The sinuous moulding continues from the crest rail down the stiles and onto the arms. The legs are cabriole-shaped with
C-scrolls on the knees. The pierced splat may be a later replacement. c.1750.
INTERPRETING THE FRENCH STYLE OF CHAIRS
During the 18th century, the European nobility and the increasingly influential middle classes sought more elegant surroundings and rooms in which to entertain and converse, and with this came more comfortable
furniture, which invited visitors to linger.
This desire for a more sociable environment led to the development of new chair styles. French craftsmen created the fauteuil, an upholstered armchair with open sides. This feminine-looking piece influenced the
development of chairs around the world, and allowed the occupant to entertain in comfort.
Compared to the heavy-looking, high-backed chairs of the 17th century, these armchairs were lighter and more refined in shape, reflecting the fashion for feminine Furnishings. The), were often decorated in the same style as the room’s other furnishings, using similar colour and fabrics.
The seat and back of the fauteuil were upholstered to make the chair more comfortable. The armrests
were also padded and covered in the same fabric. The arms were set further back around a quarter of the length of the side-rail in order to accommodate the large, hooped skirts that were fashionable with aristocratic ladies from around 1720.
Decoration was often asymmetrical in the Rococo style, incorporating shells and rocaille. Raised on cabriole legs, the entire frame of the chair was a mass of graceful curves. Usually painted in pale blues, greens and yellows to match the colour scheme of the interior, the exposed framework might also have gilt decoration to emphasize both shape and carved detail.
Cabinet-makers all over Europe strove to emulate and surpass the talents of their French counterparts in meeting the demands of their wealthy clients, many of whom were hungry for furniture in the French taste. Interpretations of the fauteuil were plentiful throughout the continent, and the fauteuil became the seating style of choice for the most fashionable European homes in the early 18th century.
Italian Armchair Inspired by the fauteuil, this Italian example has a higher, more oval back with intricate gilt carving. The pastel paint reflects the French fashion for more subtle surroundings. c.1750.
German chair This chair emulates those of contemporary French cabinet-makers, whose influence can be seen in the ornate, rocaille carving and the pale colours of the floral-embroidered silk upholstery. NAG
English armchair Essentially French in style, the later date of this armchair by Ince and Mayhew is evident from the square, tapering legs and Neoclassical decoration, which were fashionable from the 1760s.
French Fauteuil The elegance of the gentle curves is emphasized by the gilt decoration. The shell motifs on the crest rail and the knees are typical of the period.
CANTONESE SIDE CHAIR
The wide, undulating shoulders of this chair and the unusually wide splat indicate that the chair is of non-European origin. The crest rail and back stiles are made from one piece of wood, which is typical of Chinese furniture. c.1730.
SWEDISH ARMCHAIR
The back splat of this mahogany chair is unusual in that it terminates into a back stretcher rather than into the seat of the chair. A stylized carved shell decorates the crest rail and serpentine apron. This chair also has
turned stretchers, even though they were no longer fashionable at this time. c. 1755.

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.

Thomas Chippendale Chairs

THE CHAIRS that Chippendale created and reproduced in his book The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1762) offer a sample of the various design trends in the mid to late 18th century, such as Rococo, Chinese, Gothic, and Neoclassical. Chippendale’s name has become generic for 18th-century furniture and, in particular, chairs, but his designs borrowed from published English and French work. His most original work can be found in his Neoclassical pieces, which he created from 1760 onwards, inspired by the interiors of architect Robert Adam. Despite the variety of influences on his designs, many Chippendale chairs follow a basic pattern, with their stylistic influence being most obvious in their carving. Therefore, while most chair backs had pierced and interlaced splats with carved scrollwork, it is the shape and carving that reveals the
predominant influence: cartouche shapes and scrolling acanthus for Rococo, Gothic arches, Chinoiserie fretwork, and interlacing ribbons, or the lyre and fan shapes typical of Neoclassicism. The importance of deep-cut, detailed carving in Chippendale’s designs meant that mahogany was most commonly used, although provincial versions were still often made in walnut or fruitwoods.
The top rails of the chairs were usually serpentine in shape, sometimes ending in carved ears, with stiles curving outwards. Most of them had squared or trapezoidal seats, and while Chippendale preferred stuff-over upholstery, many cheaper or colonial versions had slip-in seats. Designs often had different front and back legs. The front legs could be cabriole with a claw-and-ball foot, tapered, or straight with stretchers. Mahogany is well suited for the elaborate carving of the back splat.
The drop-in seat is upholstered in pale yellow floral silk damask.
Rear legs were often simply chamfered, as these chairs were placed against the wall.
The cabriole front legs terminate in elegant carved scroll feet.

DINING CHAIR
This mahogany chair, part of a set of 11 together with one later copy, has a serpentine top rail above an interlaced, pierced splat headed by C-scrolls carved with leaves. The cabriole legs are flanked by C-scrolls, also carved with leaves, and the legs taper towards scrolled toes. c.1775.
NEW HAMPSHIRE DINING CHAIRS
Each of these mahogany dining chairs has a serpentine top rail with rounded shoulders and flaring stiles with scribed borders. The interlaced back splat includes an inverted heart cut-out shape. The over-upholstered, seat is a trapezoidal shape and has a serpentine front. The piece is supported on square-moulded, chamfered legs. The legs of the chair are joined by recessed box stretchers. The chairs retain an old or original finish, and are attributed to Robert Harold of Portsmouth. c.1765-75.
ENGLISH DINING CHAIRS
The serpentine top rail of each mahogany chair is carved at the shoulders with scrolls and foliage. The pierced, vase-shaped back splats are carved with acanthus and trailing foliage. The curved arms with scrolling ends have downward-sweeping supports, and stretchers join the straight front legs and sweeping back legs. The saddle-shaped seats are covered in red leather with a double row of studs. c.1770.
ENGLISH DINING CHAIRS
These mahogany chairs have serpentine top rails carved with trailing acanthus and side rails with flowers and trelliswork. The pierced, vase-shaped back splats are carved with acanthus and rocaille. The curved arms have downward-sweeping supports. The chairs have drop-in seats with egg-and-dart-moulding on the seat rails. The square front legs have chamfered back corners and foliate brackets, while the back legs are sweeping.
AMERICAN CARVED SIDE CHAIR
This walnut chair has a serpentine top rail centred by a carved shell over a pierced, vase-form splat. It has a moulded seat rail, padded drop-in seat, cabriole legs, and claw-and-ball feet. Late 18th century.
ENGLISH DINING CHAIR
This mahogany chair has an arched, moulded top rail and carved shells at the corners of the uprights, in the centre of the pierced splat, and at the centre of the shaped apron. c.1770.
AMERICAN ARMCHAIR
This mixed wood armchair from Philadelphia has a serpentine top rail, an urn-shaped splat, and flared arms with scrolled knuckles. It has a straight seat rail, a slip seat, cabriole legs, and pad feet. Mid to late 18th century.
GEORGE III ARMCHAIR
This child’s open mahogany armchair has a serpentine top rail and a ladder-back splat. The scroll arms have fluted uprights. The stuff-over seat rests on square, tapering legs. c.1790.
GEORGE III SETTEE
This early George III mahogany chair-back settee has a C- and S-scroll top rail above two pierced, vase-shaped splats with an open outscrolled arm at each end. The stuff-over seat rests on chamfered, square- section legs joined by stretchers.
COLONIAL INDIAN SIDE CHAIR
This Asian hardwood chair has a serpentine top rail above a pierced, vase-form back splat. The shaped seat rail has a padded drop-in seat. The cabriole legs have acanthus-carved knees. c.1770.
AMERICAN DINING CHAIR
This is one of a pair of fine Delaware Valley walnut chairs. Each has a serpentine top rail centred by a carved shell over a pierced, vase-form splat. The moulded seat rail has a drop-in seat. c.1770.
CHIPPENDALE’S CHAIR DESIGNS
In the notes that accompany his illustrative plates, Chippendale wrote that there “are various designs of chairs for patterns. The front feet are mostly different, for the greater choice.” Elsewhere, he was more specific, as with his instructions that chairs should be upholstered in the same material as the window-curtains and the height of the back should seldom exceed 55cm (22m) above the seat — although sometimes these dimensions could be less to suit the chairs to the room.
Chippendale felt that “seats look best when stuffed over the rails and have a
brass border neatly chased; but are most commonly done with Brass Nails, in one or two Rows.” Despite the number of designs in his Director, not all the chair patterns that are termed “Chippendale” are included: the ladder-back design, for example, does not appear.
Chippendale’s designs for chairs and backs of chairs were perhaps the most influential of his designs to appear in the Director. His designs were interpreted by craftsmen throughout the world, who
followed his instructions to varying degrees, and so increased the variety of “Chippendale” chairs.