GEORGE III PAINTED ARMCHAIRS - LIBRARY ARMCHAIR - GILTWOOD ARMCHAIR - DINING CHAIRS - HALL CHAIRS - GEORGE II UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR

A GEORGE III GILTWOOD ARMCHAIR, the moulded
frame with oval back with padded arms and downswept
supports, the moulded serpentine seatrail centred by an
anthemion clasp, raised on circular tapering fluted legs
with fluted oval feet, circa 1770.

A GEORGE III LIBRARY ARMCHAIR, the rectangular
stufied back with down-curved padded arm supports,
with a loose cushion, on square chamfered moulded legs
joined by H-stretchers, circa 1770.

A GEORGE III GILTWOOD ARMCHAIR in the French manner,
the stuffed cartouche-shaped back within a moulded
frame with out-curved padded arms on scrolling supports, the stuffed seat
with a carved apron on cabriole legs, circa 1775.

A GEORGE III WHITE-PAINTED ARMCHAIR in the French taste,
the padded cartouche-shaped back within a moulded frame
with outcurved padded arms on scrolling moulded supports, the
stuffed serpentine seat on cabriole legs, circa 1770.

A SET OF six GEORGE III MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS,
including an Armchair, the arched toprails with pierced
splats carved with rosettes and husks around a patera, the
armchair with out-curved moulded arm supports, with
stuffed seats, curved seat fronts, and turned fluted front
legs, circa 1780.

A SET OF TWELVE MAHOGANY DINING CHAIRS, the
rectangular backs with three stick splats, with stuffed
seats and square tapering legs with block feet and
H stretchers.

A GEORGE III WHITE-PAINTED SIDE CHAIR in the
French style, the oval padded back with a moulded
edge, the wedge-shaped stuffed seat on elegant cabriole
legs, circa 1770.

A SET OF THREE REGENCY BRASS-INLAID SIDE CHAIRS
in simulated rosewood, the rope-twist toprail above
two reeded crossbars joined by a panel inlaid with a
rosette and fleur de lys, the stuffed drop-in seats on
sabre legs, circa 1810.

A SET OF FIVE LATE GEORGE III MAHOGANY DINING
CHAIRS including an Armchair, with curved
panelled toprails, three fluted crossbars, the armchair
with downcurved moulded arms on baluster supports,
with stuffed seats and ring-turned baluster legs, circa 1815.

A SET OF six GOOD REGENCY MAHOGANY HALL
CHAIRS, each shaped back with simple incised decoration
and a central roundel painted with an armoriai crest, the
solid seats with canted corners and canted sabre front
legs, circa 1805, with squab cushions.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY ARMCHAIR, the serpentine
toprail and pierced vase-shaped splat with outcurved
arms, drop-in seat on square legs joined by stretchers,
circa 1765, arms later.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY ARMCHAIR of bergere
form, the arched stuffed back with a moulded frame and
with stuffed bow-fronted seat and reeded tapering legs,
circa 1780.

A SET OF six GEORGE III MAHOGANY CHAIRS, the
rectangular backs with three fluted splats, the solid seats
with squab cushions, on square tapering legs joined by
stretchers, circa 1800.

A LATE GEORGE II UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR, the
high padded back with scrolling arms and the stuffed
seat on square moulded legs joined by turned stretchers,
circa 1750.

A PAIR OF GEORGE II MAHOGANY CHAIRS with
gadrooned serpentine toprails, interlaced pierced splats,
the drop-in seats on carved cabriole legs ending in pad
tetl, circa 1760.)

A PAIR OF GEORGE III MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIRS with
shaped toprails, pierced interlaced splat and the drop-in
seat on square chamfered legs joined by an H-stretcher,
circa 1765.

A PAIR OF GEORGE III MAHOGANY CHAIRS, with arched stufFed
rectangular backs with padded seat on square legs joined by an H-stretcher,
circa 1770.

A SET OF EIGHT GEORGE III PROVINCIAL MAHOGANY
DINING CHAIRS including a pair of Armchairs, with
serpentine toprails pierced vase splats, outcurved arms
and the serpentine-fronted drop-in seats on square
moulded legs, circa 1770, restored     1500-2000
154 A SET OF FOUR GEORGE III MAHOGANY CHAIRS, the
hooped backs with pierced waisted splats headed by
wheat-ears, the stufFed seats on square tapering legs with
H-stretchers, circa 1770.

A SET OF FOUR GEORGE III MAHOGANY DINING
CHAIRS, the shaped moulded backs with pierced,
carved and waisted splats decorated with swags and
paterae, the drop-in seats on square tapering legs,
circa 1780.

A PAIR OF REGENCY CHAIRS with curved panelled
toprails, crossbars, drop-in seats and reeded sabre legs,
circa 1815.

A REGENCY EBONISED ARMCHAIR, the ringed toprail decorated
with flowers above moulded crossbars joined by caning,
with down-curved scrolling arms on scroll supports, with squab

cushion and caned seat, on moulded turned and fluted sabre legs, circa 1810.

A PAIR OF EBONISED AND PARCEL-GILT ARMCHAIRS,
similarly decorated to the previous lot, with square
tapering legs joined by stretchers, circa 1800, originally
unpainted.

A SET OF SIX REGENCY EBONISED DINING CHAIRS,
the turned toprails painted with bunches of flowers
above four crossbars held by gilt balls, with squab
cushions’and caned seats, on ringed splayed tapering
front legs joined by a double stretcher set with a ball,
circa 1810, decoration restored.

A GEORGE II MAHOGANY CORNER ARMCHAIR of
unusual form, with a tall narrow arched upholstered
back, with semi-circular flat crossbars below, the arms
with turned supports and with saddle-shaped seat and
cabriole leg and three further turned legs joined by
turned stretchers, circa 1735.

A GEORGE II WALNUT CORNER ARMCHAIR, with
pierced splats, stuffed drop-in seat and chamfered legs,
joined by stretchers, mid-18th Century    150-250
27 A GEORGE II BOOKCASE with moulded dentil
cornice above a pair of glazed doors with lancet mullions,
containing shelves, the base with two short drawers and
brass handles, 7ft. 5in. high by 5ft. Hin. wide (226cm. by
180.5cm.) circa 1760.

A PAIR OF GEORGE III PAINTED ARMCHAIRS,
the moulded frames with padded shield backs,
padded arms and downswept supports, and the
bow-fronted fluted seatrails on circular

tapering fluted legs, circa 1775, now painted
white and gilt, partly re-railed.

A SET OF SIX LATE GEORGE III CANED MAHOGANY
CHAIRS including a pair of Armchairs, with shallow
curved and caned toprails and matching crossbars, the
seats with rounded corners and circular reeded tapering
legs, the arms with pillar supports, circa 1800, one toprail
and one back broken.

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.