Mahogany Regency Chair - Gillows chair - Victorian Chair - Victorian Button-Back Mahogany ‘Ladies’ Chair

A mahogany Regency chair with lyre motif in the back, c.1825. The curved side rails and sabre legs are reeded to give a continuous effect. The drop-in seat is located by a peg set in the top of the front rail. As with all sabre-leg chairs the front legs should be examined carefully to see whether the top has been damaged; the construction of a sabre leg necessitates cutting across the grain of the wood thereby reducing the strength of the timber. It is a sign of quality if there are none of these repairs.
Price Range: Single    $45  $65
For some reason the lyre causes a rush of blood to the head in chair purchasers; look for inflated values accordingly.
Typical late Regency-cum-William IV rosewood single chair, c.1835. The front legs are octagonal in section and the design has become heavier. The drop-in seat is still light in character, however, and the classical
influence still evident.
A Gillows chair of 1841 made for Colonel Cradock. The back shows a stage in design which precedes the balloon back, while the heavily turned and reeded legs of the period have been replaced by finely made and
decorated cabriole legs. The seat rail has moved away from the Straight Regency design, and the total appearance is much lighter than the sub-classical designs of the 1820 - 40’s. The top rail is undecided as to
whether it is to follow the downward curve of the preceding example or to strike out into the new balloon shape. The French influence is also evident in the decorative effects.
Balloon-back Victorian chair in walnut c.1850. The cabriole legs, despite a tendency towards bandyness, mark the distinct move away from the heavy turned legs of the previous years. The nicely proportioned curve of the seat rail between the legs helps to accentuate the change to a flowing, curved effect. These chairs were evidently very popular and were made for a number of years  perhaps up to the 1860’s and in a modified form throughout the rest of the period.
Another mid-Victorian chair, c.1850, with cabriole legs and needlework back and seat. The legs are treated more slenderly, with less curvature and the scrolled knobs at the feet are less accentuated. The needlework, if original, adds to value.
A mahogany chair of c.1845 with cabriole legs. The back is upholstered and its broad heavy top rail follows the late Regency trend, but the revival of rococo taste is evident in the scrolled feet and in the scrolling of the lower back rail. The legs do not show any decisive curving and mark that indecision of design characteristic of the period.
A country mahogany chair of the 1820 - 40 period. The Regency influence is evident in the arms, but the broad top rail belongs to the later part of the period.
A Gillows’ design of 1884, which owes a good deal to fashions of an earlier period. The reeded legs are more bulbous and the upholstered seat  not shown in this constructional sketch  would be very full. The
chamfered and grooved inside edge of the back is to lighten the effect of the very broad top rail and uprights. The latter have been ornamented with a small scroll at the join of the top rail, which almost seems an afterthought of design.
Early Victorian (1839) Gillows’ chair with turned and reeded front legs. The downward curve of the thick top rail, which is carved, helps to produce a more integrated design. It is a sitting room chair with padded back to give additional comfort.
An unashamed Victorian mahogany chair  c.1850  of which the back owes much to the balloon design of more elegant versions. The uncorseted bulbous front legs are of a kind which have a robust appeal of their own, even though most dealers flinch at the sight of them.
Later period Victorian chair in mahogany. Note the heavier, squarer back with over-emphasized, eighteenth century style corner carving. The cabriole legs and seat rail are also heavily encrusted. The fully upholstered
seat gives an appearance of overstuffing and top heaviness.
A chair of a design normally associated with the William IV or early Victorian period. This is, in fact, a Gillows’ design of 1877 and illustrates the fact that one must be very circumspect about dating Victorian chairs by their design, for one finds similar designs being executed over a period of thirty to forty years. The fully upholstered seat and moulded front rail give a heaviness not present in our William IV rosewood example, but the back and the turned and reeded front legs could easily be associated with the 1830 - 40 period.
Sets of 4 or 6 $10  $15 each
Early eighteenth century  c.1720  wing armchair with cabriole legs in w alnut. Upholstered in leather. This is a fine example and well illustrates the three dimensional quality of the design. The wings sweep into the arms of this fine quality chair, which is as comfortable to sit in as one might imagine. Note the shape of the back legs; this feature was not normally well imitated by later craftsmen.
A more elaborate bergere chair of Victorian character, c.1850. In this case the cabriole legs and scrolled arms are in the same style as upholstered armchairs of the period. The back has a very pronounced rake to it
and the top rail sweeps boldly to a small scroll at each end. This example is in Virginian walnut and has a certain American air about it  possibly because ranch or railroad bosses of the Lee J. Cobb variety always seem to be sprawling in them on the screen. A loose cushion, possibly covered in hide,
would have been fitted in the seat.
A mahogany button-back armchair of c.1850. The influence of rococo Styles is clear in the carving and scroll feet. Possibly some of the later French Empire influence, prevalent in the 1810 - 1840 period, continued into the Victorian era without too much adulteration.
Carving  cabriole legs
Later Victorian upholstered chair on mahogany cabriole legs, c.1870. One of a large number of similar designs which, being very comfortable, have doubled in price over the last few years.
A Victorian button-back mahogany ‘ladies’ chair, with cabriole legs, c.1850. The top rail is decorated with leaf carving. The ‘grandmother’ equivalent of the previously illustrated ‘grandfather’ (i.e. with arms).
A mid-Victorian open armchair in walnut, of the popular button-back type, c.1850. The fluency of the curve between the arm supports and the cabriole leg is spoilt by the thickness of wood at the point where the scrolls are carved. Most examples are better balanced. This example is in walnut, but many were made in mahogany.
Another mahogany button-back armchair of c.1850, this time with turned legs. The arm supports are scrolled and so is the back. When the Victorians took to turning, they were predictably complex and the addition of reeding on the legs was often, as in this case, irresistible to them. Turned leg examples of this kind of chair never reach the same value as cabrioles.
A restrained mahogany armchair of the 1890 - 1910 period which, again, demonstrates the return to eighteenth century styles. The square tapering legs and inlaid stringing lines, together with the square back design. relate to Sheraton examples.

Sheraton Single Chair in Mahogany with Straight Legs - A Regency Arm and Single Chair - Regency Mahogany Sabre-Leg Chair

A simpler Sheraton design with tapering legs normally made in mahogany, c. 1800. The arm uprights are of straightforward turning without the spiral reeding which adds greatly to price. An elegant and simple style
which remained popular for many years.
A mahogany armchair of c.1800 date. An excellent example of a good quality chair, as evidenced in the reeding and lightness of design of the back. The turned legs are a little clumsier and have hints of later things to come.
A mahogany Sheraton style single chair, c.1800, with Gothic arching in the design of the back. The legs are tapered on the inside edge only and are reeded, as is the back. An elegant and simple chair.
Country Sheraton design armchair in mahogany with bowed solid seat, c.1810. A satisfying and simple country design of which many were made to meet the popular demand caused by the town versions.
A rather heavier Sheraton style mahogany country chair with drop-in seat, c.1810. The broad top rail of the back has been made slightly wider than the back uprights which detracts slightly from the elegance of the
style. Otherwise the construction and tapering legs are typical.
An elegant chair of the early Regency period, c.1820, with caned back and seat. The outward turn of the simulated bamboo legs is most effective and the balance is completed by the curved top rail. The seat rail and the top rail are inlaid with stringing in the approved classical manner. Many of these chairs were made of birch or beech and then ebonised or painted. They are almost inevitably very expensive.
A country Sheraton single chair in mahogany with straight legs and solid seat, c.1810. The square back with vertical rails owes much to the popularity of Sheraton styles, otherwise the design comes from a
straightforward eighteenth century construction.
Late eighteenth/early nineteenth century oak spindle-back chairs, sometimes called ‘Lancashire’ chairs. They are rush-seated and are sometimes made of elm.
A very simplified country chair of c.1800. The design owes something to Sheraton in the tapering front legs and squared style of the back. The two horizontal rails are very plain and more ornamented versions are to be found. The solid bowed seat is made of elm and the rest of the chair is fruitwood.
Another very elegant Regency chair, c.1825, with rope twist motif on the back and sabre legs. The caned seat again adds to the overall lightness of design.
A similar pair of Regency chairs with reeding continuous down back uprights, sides and sabre legs. The carved decoration is simple and elegant,1830
A Regency period library chair which converts into a set of steps, c.1830. These chairs usually attracted a high degree of craftsmanship and are normally in either mahogany or rosewood. The arms and sabre front legs exhibit typical Regency characteristics although there is a hint of William IV in the broad carved top back rail.
Rather a hybrid piece of furniture which was either little made originally or subject to demolition from heavy bibliophiles. Either way, now becoming rarer and more expensive.
A Regency arm and single chair, c.1825, similar to the previous example in rope twist design but with drop in seats instead of cane. The panel between the horizontal rails in the back is inlaid with brass.
A late Regency or William IV period chair made of mahogany, c.1835. In the heavy curl of the arms and the reeded front legs the approach of the Victorian era is foretold. The bold, wide, outward-pointing top rail is
typical of the 1830 - 40 decade. Look out for conversion front legs, i.e. the original turned and reeded ones are sometimes removed and replaced by sabre legs to increase value.
Balance of top rail  (heavy top rails detract).
A typical Regency mahogany sabre-leg chair of pleasing proportion and design, c.1830. Elegant and small, yet comfortable, this type of chair has become understandably very popular since the war of 1939 - 45. They
are also to be found in rosewood, an even heavier and more durable wood which increases their value.

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 — turned leg, 1800-1840
The turned leg chairs of the 1800-1840 period derive from late Sheraton and other, usually classical, design influences of the period. Whereas the overall shape is clearly recognisable, an infinite variety of decorative
designs were used and it is again very difficult to range the quality of the enormous output.
A fine quality example with reeded arms and back. The top rail is also reeded and the legs reasonably restrained as far as the turning goes. 1810
Another restrained chair of simple, quite elegant design. c. 1825 Set of six
This chair shows how the legs can become over-turned to the point of weakness. The violently striped covering is not, of course, contempory. 1835
An elegant later chair with fine quality work in the back and the expected reeded legs of William IV origin. c. 1835
Almost the classic dealer’s mahogany dining chair of the late Georgian-Regency period. The arms now reach out to curve straight down into the front legs. The back centre rail is twist-turned and there is an inlaid brass stringing line in the top back rail.
A humbler example, where the legs are still elegant but the top rail of the back is wider and starting to grow into the heavier broad rail of the later part of the period. c. 1820
The broad top rail has started to be embellished by the Victorians, who were busy deciding to throw off such restraint as the severe straight tops of the previous examples, thus leading to 189. c. 1840
This chair shows how events can take an unpleasant turn, with front legs becoming bulbous and unnecessary cross-stretchers appearing. c. 1835
The rule for giving an approximate value for a set is to increase the single price as follows:
Here the top rail has broken out into a rebellion of a decidedly dashing nature. c. 1830-40
This design ran concurrently with the early balloon back and fits in well with cabrioles.  c. 1850    Set of six.

Sabre-leg chair

Thomas Hope, connoisseur and dilettante, is credited with the original concept of this radical design, but it was George Smith, cabinet-maker and furniture-maker who simplified the neoclassical shape and made the flush-sided chair a practical
Signs ofauthenticity
1. In solid wood, cut across the grain on the side frames so that at no point is the grain running at an angle of more than 45′.
2. Back rail and crest rail tenoned inside back frame supports.
3. Seat frame flowing in continuous line from crest rail to legs.
4. Upholstered seat contained within seat frame, not
overstuffed.
5. Decoration, stringing, brass inlay, flush with surface and silhouette.
6. On chairs with arms, arm supports in counter-curve to front legs, often with scrolling at armrest.
7. Arms follow precise curve of seat and back frame, finishing flush into front of back support.
8. On chairs with arms, upholstered seat contained within seat frame and arms.
9. Front legs with more pronounced forward curve than back curve of back legs.
10. All legs square-sectioned, unstretchered.
Likely restoration and repair
11. Caned seats replaced with upholstery, covering front seat rail.
12. Legs broken, split and
pinned - most vulnerable point just below knees of front legs. Examine grain closely for
repairs.
13. Back supports broken and repaired. Both these points may not detract from appearance but considerably weaken structure.
14. Decorative brass rosettes on sides of knees, seat frame
junction with back legs - may conceal pinning or repair.
15. Attractive if incongruous carving on front legs other than reeding. Probably conceals a partly replaced leg.
commercial proposition. Its lines derive from Ancient Greek and Egyptian rather than the Adam `classical’ and it represented the height of the Regency taste for unbroken lines and severe curves. Probably the most well-known design – certainly the most copied and reproduced – is the `Trafalgar’ chair, with a rope-twist incorporated into the crest rail or back rail, made to commemorate Nelson’s victory.
There had been many technical advances in furni making by the end of the eighteenth century. Steam-driven machinery, bonding, laminating and veneer-cutting , all had a considerable influ on furniture design. There also a far greater scientific understanding of weight and stress. The flush-sided chair remarkably modern construction, with the timbers cut scientifically across the grain so that the leg and side-frame were made in a single piece, bonded to the curving back and back leg in a single continuous line.
Construction and materials
This radical design was made in solid mahogany, rosewood, simulated rosewood, ebonized beech, real and simulated calamander, and, in some less costly versions, with side frames and seat rails of solid dark woods with a beech underframe. The test of a genuine flush-sided chair is that it can be laid completely flat on its side on the floor. Legs are always unstretchered, the front legs frequently have a more pronounced curve than the back legs - hence its name ’sabre leg’. The crest rail, often several inches deep, is tenoned to the inside of the back supports and does not overrun the seat frame. Chairs with flush sides and crest rails over-running the side are of later date. Seats were upholstered and curved with the side-frame. They were never overstuffed at the front, where there was always a straight seat rail joining the two high-curving knees.
In line with the fashions of the day, the sabre-legged chair was also made in a lighter construction, with a dark wood, or ebonized beech for the frame, and caned seat and back panel.
Detail
Frequently there was continuous reeding which carried from the side of the crest rail, down the top of the seat frame, over the knees and down the front of the slightly tapered square-sectioned legs. Brass inlay, stringing and decoration were flush with the surface. On arms, there is often scrolling at the end of the armrest.
Variations
These chairs required a considerable amount of technical knowledge and equipment to make, and consequently there are no country versions of this design.
The simple shape of the traditional slat back with a deep, plain crest rail and plain wooden or rush seat could probably be related to the sabre-legged chair, but it would be stretching the point. The most commonly reproduced design is the over-curving S-armed chair with matching
dining chairs, often with caned seats, and most frequently found in beechwood, ebonized or painted and gilded. Strictly speaking, these are not true flush-sided chairs, since their arms are round-sectioned and their wide crest rails usually overrun the sides.
Below left: flush-framed, c.1830. Right: cane-seated, flush-framed, c.1820. The rope-twist crest rail has been broken by a stylized decorative design.
Reproductions
Victorian
From the beginning of the Victorian period, the pure shape of the flush-sided chair became spoiled by turned front legs instead of the strict curve of the sabre leg. This was probably because the flush-sided chair was by nature expensive to make and used a considerable amount of timber to achieve the right
spring and strength to the legs.
Twentieth century
Few of the myriad variations begin to match the elegance and simplicity of the original. About 30 years ago the lyre back was very much in fashion, and a variation of the flush-sided chair was made commercially by some high-quality manufacturers, usually in ebonized beech. They proved to be far less durable than the originals, mainly because the difficult cross-cutting of the timber was skimped, and the sabre legs split where the grain ran at too acute an angle.
Modern versions of a cane-seated flush-sided chair are to be found in some high-quality department stores, made with modern techniques, probably in High Wycombe, centre of the chair-making industry in
England, where many of the originals were also made.
Price bands
Late Regency, with overrunning crest rail, £120-150 each. Set of six, £800-1,000.
Cane seat, simulated rosewood, beach frame - set of six, £.880-1,000.
S-arm chair, £250-320.
Plain mahogany - set of six, £700-900.
(Rosewood more expensive than mahogany; brass inlay also more expensive.)
William iv turned leg - set of six, £600-850.

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.