English 19th Century Antique Chairs
CHAIRS: English 19th Century Antique
About 1840-1915
More varied in style and quality than any time before or since, traditional hand-craftsmanship having to compete with cheaper mass-manufacture aided by machinery. Numerous (variously-interpreted) pastiches of historic styles (plus later reproductions) and new arts and crafts, aesthetic and progressive or art nouveau styles appeared at various times.
Sets of (usually six) side-chairs were often purchased en suite with sofa (or chaise longue) and pair of easy chairs.
Styles are too varied to describe in detail, but the broad categories are:
Rococo (sometimes described in the 19thC as ‘Old French’ or ‘Louis Quatorze’); about 1840-1885: See CHAIRS: VICTORIAN BALLOON-BACKS, p. 66.
Typically late-Victorian, yet in no easily identifiable style.
Gothic (i) about 1830-1870: Fashionable for halls, libraries. Dark oak. Ornate carving of decorative motifs derived from Gothic architecture. Tall backs typically with pinnacles. Square seats; straight, carved legs with or without stretchers.
Gothic (ii) ‘Reformed Gothic’, about 1830-1870: Light oak. Very simple frames of architectural form, sometimes buttressed underframes (after Pugin, see p. 228). Chamfered edges on straight members. Legs turned or square. Square seats, leather upholstery. Some geometric inlay in dark colours.
Gothic (iii) ‘Commercial Gothic’, about 1860-1890: Often inferior quality manufacture. Inlay or shallow-carved dot-dash decoration with shallow-carved quatrefoils on non-Gothic forms (see Nameless Victorian styles opposite).
Elizabethan (or ‘Jacobean’), about 1830-1865: Popular for dining-rooms. Often confused use of decorative motifs and forms. Many chairs actually of Restoration type with tall backs (rectangular panels of upholstery
rather than canework), spiral turned uprights, ornate carved crestings, turned and carved legs and stretchers. (See also CHAIRS: UPHOLSTERED for the prie dieu, a popular `Elizabethan’ type.)
Renaissance, about 1870-1915: Also popular for dining-rooms. Dark stained wood. Ornate carving all over of strapwork, car-touches, and other Renaissance motifs.
Leather or rexine (imitation leather) upholstery on square seats and rectangular central back panels.
Arts and Crafts, about 1865-1895: See
CHAIRS: WINDSORS, COUNTRY for Morris & Co. rush-seated chairs and ladder-backs.
Art Furniture (or Aesthetic), about 18701890: Ebonised finish with shallow incised carving, mostly of straight lines. Strong vertical and horizontal emphasis. Turned uprights with many spindles. Straight close-ring-turned legs. Square seats.
Some similar art furniture chairs in AngloJapanese form. Generally a lighter feel overall with thinner, plainer members. Not always ebonised. Sometimes the back included a painted and gilded panel.
Art nouveau (or ‘Quaint’ or ‘Old English’), about 1890-1915: Tall narrow backs, sometimes tapering inwards towards top. Straight, often spindly legs. Plain vertical splats, often pierced or carved with hearts, stylized
flowers, trailing vines.
Variations include Liberty’s heavy oak chairs.
Reproductions of 18thC styles, about 1865-1915.
Mahogany, rosewood, walnut, oak. Some satinwood. Beech and birch for ebonised and cheaper stained or painted chairs.
Machine-cut dowels used extensively instead of mortise-and-tenon. (Pegged mortise-andtenon used on some reformed Gothic chairs, but not many of these around.) Seat frames strengthened with triangular blocks at each showing screwed-on corner blocks.
Post-1870 chair in a vaguely Renaissance style.
Triangular blocks
Blocks screwed and glued corner with outer edge waved to take screws. Screws machine-made and pointed. Machinery also widely used for cutting and carving. Many pieces stamped underneath with registration number of design.
Virtually all chairs with some carving, much done by machine and therefore shallow and often lacking in character. Often flush with surface. Grooving and dot-dash ornament very common after 1870. (Sometimes
picked out in gold on fashionably ebonised surfaces.)
Some inlay, particularly of ebony or boxwood on Gothic pieces.
Some papier mach& pieces typically japanned, with painted, gilt and mother-of-pearl decoration.
Polish for better quality pieces. Cheaper pieces frequently stained and varnished. Ebonised finish especially popular between about 1870 and 1890.
VALUES
Extremely variable, according to quality. In general, the same rules apply for sets versus singles as for chairs of other dates, but prices often start at a lower base, definitely in two rather than three figures. A reputable
maker’s stamp (say Gillow’s or Shoolbred’s) or a verified design by a noted aesthetic or arts and crafts designer will certainly add to the value.
NAMELESS VICTORIAN STYLES
From around 1870 many chairs which are instantly recognizable today as Victorian were made in nameless styles. Really squared-up versions of balloon-backs, they tend to have low, squarish backs, D-shaped or
square seats with shallow moulded seat rails, narrow carved splats of cross-rails, and straight turned legs with or without stretchers. Shallow machine-carved decoration often runs around the back.
Many distinctive chairs were also made in new materials such as bamboo and wicker (many for gardens and conservatories). Cast iron was used only for garden chairs. Papier mache was used for a variety of styles,
mostly providing only the surface decoration.
Tags: Art Furniture, arts and crafts, BALLOON-BACKS, chaise longue, chamfered edges, country, Elizabethan, English, gothic architecture, hand craftsmanship, louis quatorze, Morris, old french, rococo, side chairs, VICTORIAN