Country Chippendale chair in mahogany - Hepplewhite chairs - Hepplewhite arm and single chair

Country Chippendale chair in mahogany c.1760. Fully upholstered seat covered in tapestry pattern fabric. A good example of a better quality country chair.
Mahogany Chippendale chair of pleasing simplicity and proportion, c.1780. The splat is elegantly curved and the back, though square in design, is curved and softened by the tapering uprights.
Proportion and quality of workmanship
An oak country chair of c.1760 with solid seat. The back splat still retains an echo of the Queen Anne period but the uprights and top rail join in an outward turn more akin the mid-eighteenth century. Similar chairs in
solid walnut with even earlier styles in the back pre-date these simple robust pieces.
Mahogany Country Chippendale chair of heavier proportion c.1780. The casters under the legs have been added later, possibly to compensate for wear caused by stone floors. There is considerable workmanship in the carving of the back but the rather flattened top rail lacks the elegance of London or even provincial work.
As for other Chippendale chairs.
Hepplewhite chairs of hooped back design, c.1790. The tapering legs are reeded or moulded this feature. Note that the armchair is not a match with the single chairs. The back splat this type, finely executed and
decorated with carving down the centre.
Arm and the back repeats designs are typical of
Set of 2 arm, 4 singles $600  $750 Set of 2 arm, 6 singles $1,000.
A mahogany Chippendale chair with fully upholstered seat. c.1770. The back splat design is one which seems to have been particularly popular with country and later makers of this design of chair.
A ‘Chipplewhite’ design mahogany chair of c.1780. Note that the influence of French designs has now cut the bold sweep of the arms to a more attenuated length and of less broad a scope.
A Hepplewhite design chair of c.1790 with hooped back. The centre splat decorated with the circular medal-like motif with leaf decoration radiating out from a centre. A fairly typical design which is associated with Hepplewhite but which more probably emanated from Robert Adam. The legs are still of the square section straight type of Chippendale period and not as light or elegant as the normal Hepplewhite type which were tapered. The seat is bowed. The chair is made of mahogany.
Fine quality Hepplewhite arm and single chair, c.1790. Note the leaf carving on the back and round the top rail to finish half way down the uprights. The influence of Robert Adam is evident in these.
A mahogany Hepplewhite chair  c.1790  which suggests a development from a Chippendale design rather than a break from it. The structure is very similar; the front legs are not tapered on the inside edge and the
camel-back form of top back rail tempers the outward sweep of the uprights.
This is a simple version of this design. A more decorated version could well double these prices.
Hepplewhite mahogany shield-back arm and single chair c.1790. The craftsmanship involved in making a successful shield-back chair is of the highest order and to obtain the necessary degree of comfort and stability as well as fine proportion is a task of considerable difficulty. The central balusters of these two fine chairs are joined to the top rail by the ‘Prince of Wales feathers’, a very favourite motif with Hepplewhite and one which was emphasized in his Guide. The shield-backs are edged with a small double beading on the inner and outer edges. The legs on these are not reeded and there is less decoration than that of the preceding example; the front legs end in spade feet.

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.

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.

CHAIRS — children’s low
Very well made walnut child’s chair. Gloriously successful cabrioles, arms, legs and back. Only possible fault is that the back should perhaps be a fraction higher to be in proper proportion, but this is a very minor quibble about a superb piece. c.1720
An early eighteenth century child’s country chair; from the photograph it looks as though the right hand arm and the top rail are oversized, but again this is a minor point, for the overall proportions are excellent. c.1730
Children’s chairs naturally follow the same styles as those of their parents and one assesses them in the same way. The acid test is that if one sees a photograph without background it should not be obvious that it is a miniaturised version. Making a miniature in the correct proportions is extremely difficult and requires a very good maker to get them just right. As chair making itself is one of the most difficult arts, a good child’s chair calls for a top craftsman.
To generalise on prices, fine town made examples of earlier types tend to fetch less then their adult equivalent while children’s versions of country or late chairs fetch more.
Again the work of a competent maker, this Mendlesham chair can only be detected as a child’s because the arms are a trifle thick and pinched inwards. A very rare and desirable piece. c.1820
An endearing child’s Windsor rocking chair in ash. More simply made than the last example. The arms are a bit crude at the ends and the spindles have been tapered off slightly too much. 1820-1860
Ignore the fact that about 2ins. are missing from the bottom of the legs and holes drilled to provide support for a foot rest and this Hepplewhite example is another top quality piece. Look at the carefully moulded back, carved honeysuckle decoration and the excellent curve of the arms. c. 1770
A sweet little yew Windsor missing about an inch off the bottom of its feet. It has a slight Gothic appearance purely because the top rail would not bend so it cracked. Yew does not take kindly to tight curves.

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 several decades. Confusion on dating is therefore very easy. Prices are for sets of six.  Single examples range from $40 — 70.
The back rail is thin and no longer straight but the decoration on the splat still harks back to William IV (late Regency) as does the drop-in seat and decoration on the legs. c. 1835
Shows a simulated rosewood Regency bedroom chair made of beech in which the splat has developed and an early form of ballooning is evolving. This light and elegant chair contrasts sharply with the late ones.
Set of six each.
A later heavier type with solid turned legs and rather clumsy decoration on the splat. c. 1870
Almost a balloon back but not quite, nevertheless a good design with moulded edges to the legs as well as inside the back.
In walnut with a warm colour not obvious from the photograph. The slight shaping on the top and the small carved supports give the chair an elegant look. c.1850
The later mechanical applied groove decoration and a very simple splat, the legs are pinched (see Agius). The price is relatively high because many people simply do not differentiate between quality. c. 1880
Still a very good chair with an intricate splat which is in its favour, but less style than the previous example. c. 1850
Chairs  show how the balloon shape could infect other chairs of the period, even papier mach& as in 200. Note the difference between the Victorian idea of cabriole and that of the early eighteenth century; the former is bandy legged by comparison. 1860. Set of six.
Moving down the scale, a simple splat and a not entirely successful attempt at decoration just above. The legs lack some of the elegance of the previous examples. c. 1850. If back broken — forget.

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 is hipped into the seat and the top rail is scooped into a definite hollow in the middle.
The top rail is also more rounded in appearance and the distinction between it and the back uprights more difficult to define, as they flow into each other. The flat face of the uprights, splat and seat rails are veneered
for decoration. c. 1725    Single $2,500 — 3,500 Pair $8, 000 — 12, 000
This very fine chair with the shepherd’s crook arms has superb cabrioles with hipped decoration on the knee, ball-and-claw feet and despite the low back, superb movement. A collector’s dream. c.1720
A country version with the fashionable low front (not always a pot cupboard), a veneered back splat and firmly fixed shepherd’s crook arms. c.1720
A lesser quality chair on which the shell carving on the knee has an almost stuck-on appearance and looks out of place. Note that the chair is made of solid walnut and features no veneer, although the face of the back uprights is flat, as though to be veneered. See how material has been saved in producing the shaped back uprights — the lower inward curve of the left hand back upright is a different piece of wood joined to the main upright: the lighter colour betrays it. c. 1720
A mahogany high quality chair with carved decoration — see how the curving back uprights end in eagles’ heads where they meet the top rail. Cuban mahogany encouraged a revival in the carver’s art. Notice too that
the seat has become larger and generally more solid. A move towards Chippendale. 1730-1740
A fruitwood chair with rounded back uprights rather like chairs from the previous section. It has a rather country appearance despite the quality of the cabrioles and back splat, which is quite sophisticated. c.1730
Although this chair has lost its front feet, it illustrates a stretchered type with flat-faced back uprights, the whole chair being made in solid walnut. It has little of the curvature of the back which the chairs in the previous section show, although akin to them below the seat level. Note that the shoulder piece is missing on the right hand cabriole. c.1735

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 smartly nipped in at the waist.
Signs of authenticity
1. Solid ‘black’ Virginia walnut, rosewood or solid mahogany frame, carved and decorated.
2. Front arm supports and front legs in one continuous piece with decorative motif integral to the shape and design.
3. Deep, crisp carving with scrolling or floral and foliate motifs.
4. Original upholstery in worsted damask, cotton-andworsted, or silk-and-worsted, machine-woven, or in heavy velvet.
Floral, stripes and imitation tapestry or dark plain colours.
5. Deep buttoning to backs and inside arms, plain sprung seats until c.1890.
6. Backs curved in spoon shape to fit the body — buttoning to `waist’ of back only.
Likely restoration and repair
7. Back legs broken and
replaced. Replacements may be simple and slightly raked, looking well but less solidly balanced.
8. New upholstery — almost inevitable, but buttoning should not continue below the line of the ‘waist’ of the back.
9. Front legs and/or feet
repaired where broken or split. Change in patination is always on a diagonal line with repair and runs into the leg grain.
10. Original, bulbously turned legs, replaced with a ‘marriage’ of legs from another, similar chair. Line of front seat rail will carry through between arm and leg, whereas on genuine carved cabriole-type legs there is no break at seat level.
This hour-glass shape was echoed in seat furniture, and when Samuel Pratt took out a patent for sprung upholstery in 1828 it was in answer to a demand for even more comfortable chairs and sofas.
Even as late as the early Victorian period, it was considered strange for the centre of rooms to be cluttered with furniture except when in use, and seat furniture was always on castors so that it could be moved back into a tidy arrangement round the room when not in use. Once the rounded, curving lines of upholstered furniture began to be exploited, all kinds of central seat furniture made its appearance, notably the back-to-back sofa and the circular sofa, deeply sprung, tasselled and curving.
Arm chairs at first had sprung seats and button backs, developing from the lines of the Adam round-backed chair into one of the most familiar pieces. of Victorian furniture. Later, seats as well as backs were buttoned, and there were high-backed ‘grandmother’s chairs’, more dumpy, rotund `grandfather’s chairs’ and their counterparts without arms, as well as tub chairs, bedroom chairs, nursery chairs and parlour chairs, all made with carved mahogany, Virginia walnut or rosewood frames and beech underframes. Some of the most successful designs incorporate a cabriole-type leg with a scrolled `French foot’, far more elegant than the later, bulbously turned legs of mass-produced and provincial chairs.
Construction and materials
Early versions of Victorian upholstered chairs from c.1830-50 were usually open-armed, with small upholstered elbow pads and ornate curving scrolls to arms and back, with a solid Virginia walnut frame and a curved, plain seat back.
Underframes were of beech, ash or birch, and the construction was still similar to earlier armed chairs. From c.1850 the arms were filled and upholstered, and the backs, shaped with two low scrolls like a judge’s wig, had small decoratively carved features rising above the curved back frame. The back legs, until now plain and slightly raked, developed a bowed curve and there was often a decorative carved apron across the front seat rail below the upholstered sprung seat. At the same period low chairs with hourglass or balloon-shaped
Variations
Suites of drawing room balloon-back chairs with high backed ‘grandmother’s chairs’ with buttoned backs and open arms were made in great quantities, some of
upholstered backs were made without arms, their seats wide and generous, their curved cabrioletype legs set wider than the back legs. These were known as ‘ladies’ chairs’ and their high-backed, armed equivalents as `grandmother’s chairs’.
Detail
After the introduction of machine-carving around 1850, upholstered chairs of all shapes and sizes were made with less detail, shallow carving, and generally with turned front legs. Early upholstery tended to be unyielding because it was a mixture of linen waste and horsehair, but this was soon replaced with American cotton and wool waste mixed with horsehair, a combination that was much softer and more comfortable.
them very decorative, others of poorer quality, for they were mass-produced from inferior materials. As with much Victorian furniture, quality and craftsmanship distinguish between early, well-made and well-designed button back chairs and later versions. This type of chair continued to be made well into the early Edwardian period, although in the main it was relegated from drawing rooms and parlours to bedrooms and the servant’s upstairs quarters.
Right: a low button back, sometimes called a nursing chair.
Reproductions
The revival in popularity of Victorians in recent years has led to many furniture-manufacturers producing copies of the smaller tub chair with button back and low rounded seat. On the whole these look perfectly adequate, but fillings for upholstery are more often than not a polystyrene-type foam chip which goes flat and loses its spring after some use. In terms of value it is better to seek out one of the many varieties of original on the market than spend money on short-lived modern reproductions.
Price bands
Open-armed, well-carved, solid walnut frame and apron c.1850-70, £350-500.
Spoonback, no arms, cabriole-shaped legs, solid walnut carved frame, £400-550.
Curved back, integral upholstered arms, carved legs and frame. Rosewood more than walnut, £350-600.
Left: open-armed button back, c.1870.

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.