William and Mary period  walnut armchair -  oak Queen Anne period country chair - Walnut Queen Anne period corner chair

An oak armchair of c.1680. Note that the stretchers also exhibit twist turning as well as all the uprights. The back carving is well executed with the top rail and front stretcher showing two cherubs supporting a coronet  ‘boyes and crownes’. These chairs, taken singly, are still somewhat undervalued although sets are a specialist demand and command high prices. The back and seat were probably caned originally.
Three more late seventeenth century country chairs - c.1690 in oak, showing the variations possible in the back. The squab seats have been added for comfort. It is interesting not only to see the similarity of leg and
stretcher construction but the variations possible in the turning of them.
Price Range: Single $30  $40 Pair $70  $90
Value points: Quality of execution and carving of back
Late seventeenth century  William and Mary period  walnut armchair, c.1695. Curved and moulded stretchers. Note the bulb turning and ‘bun’ feet  to be seen on other pieces of the period such as side tables and chest
stands. The wool or hair upholstery is covered with velvet with bullion braiding. Note also the curvature of the arms to balance the stretchers.
Price Range: $120  $150 for this quality. Chairs of this period tend to be uncommon and wide variations occur depending on condition and quality.
Value points: Walnut
Balancing of design of arms and stretchers  Quality of turning
William and Mary period walnut chair c.1700 with cane back. A marked development in design from the previous example. The high cane back and square section joining of the back legs has been retained but the new form of leg  the cabriole — has appeared, introduced to England by foreign workmen. The cabrioles in this example finish in hoof or pied-de-biche feet. This is an early form of Continental influence. The transition between the high backed cane chairs of the seventeenth century and the finely carved cabrioles of the eighteenth century is to be seen. The Victorians were fond of making hall chairs of this type but usually lost proportion in legs and stretchers.
An oak Queen Anne period country chair, c.1710. The back splat is of the shape typically associated with the period. The termination of the uprights is very interesting because the line has been carried into the top rail
and over to a pointed termination where the splat joins it. The front rail is rather heavy, but shaped, and the cabriole legs are gently curved, ending in simple pad feet. The rather rigid back legs and lack of rake
emphasize the country origin. The solid seat has a typical shallow moulding around it, probably originally fitted to retain a squab cushion.
A superb walnut armchair of about 1720 raised on high quality cabriole legs decorated on the knee with criss cross carving and small tassels, the ends terminating in ball and claw feet. The back is of unusual shape but the solid splat of walnut veneered on oak is found on less good examples. The shepherd’s crook arms are well proportioned. The thick rim round the drop-in seat is typical of the period, as is the shell motif repeated on the cresting rail. A side view would show the pronounced rake of this top quality chair.
Price Range: $500  $700
Queen Anne period walnut chair c.1710 of early design. The now famous splat shape is evident but the high back is retained, although a curve in the rake of the back has emerged - the spoon back. There is a shaped
and moulded stretcher but in this case the cabriole legs terminate in simple pad feet. The height of the back and the square section of the back legs are retained from the previous century. An interesting feature
peculiar to Q. A. workmanship is the slightly raised planed moulding at the bottom of the frame just under the seat, rather like cockbeading. cabriole-leg side tables and chest stands of the period sometimes
exhibit the same feature.
Walnut Queen Anne period corner chair with inlaid diamond pattern in boxwood. Turned stretchers and uprights. Typically shaped splats in figured walnut. Drop-in seat. cabriole legs ending in pad feet; note the shell motif carved on the front cabriole, a  factor of quality. This chair is possibly of country origin.
Price Range: $100 - $150. Generally a man’s taste.
Value points: Quality of execution, i.e. proportion, grace of cabrioles, shell motifs etc.
All legs cabrioles  (sometimes the back and side legs are left straight or turned, detracting from value).
A Queen Anne period country walnut chair, c.1710, which was originally rush-seated. The front legs are cabrioles and the turned stretchers between the legs have square joints. The presence of stretchers tends to
distract somewhat from the line of the cabrioles and is generally assumed to be a feature of the chairs of the earlier part of the period. The back legs and uprights are also turned, a feature frequently found on chairs of
this period. The plain back splat is curved and the rush seat was of the drop-in type. The cabriole legs end in pad feet and the design and execution of the chair is of good quality for country furniture. Instead of fitting shoulder pieces at the sides of the cabriole knees, the flat facets are covered with
round knobs, glued on.
Price Range: Pair $80 - $110 Four $250 - $400 Six $500 - $700
Value points: Quality of cabriole and back
Note the cabrioles on this example are slightly bandy and knee (top) is too heavy for the foot.

Windsor Chair with High Back - A Child’s Windsor Chair with the Gothic Arched Back - Windsor Chair of the 19th Century

WINDSOR CHAIRS
Windsor chairs or stickback chairs as they are more properly called, were probably first made in the early part of the 19th century. Principally they were a cheap form of seating usefulfor public assemblies, taverns, kitchens and the houses of the less prosperous. There are however some fine quality examples in existence which suggest that the virtues of the chair were appreciated by the more well to do also.
Early examples of Windsor chairs, particularly those with cabriole legs at front and back, have become expensive. Any Windsor chair with yew wood used in it moves to the top of the price range and there were some made in mahogany, which usually indicates better quality. The run-of-the-mill chair usually has an elm seat and legs. The yew chairs also normally have elm seats.
The same designs were copied for many years and dating a chair can therefore be extremely difficult. A late 19th century chair made in an earlier style but hard used and polished for 80 years is virtually unidentifiable from the earlier version. The heavier turned legs and arm supports one normally associates with the Victorian chairs were not always irresistable to the Victorian chair maker.
The principal chair making area seems to have been High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire but chairs of individual design were produced in other parts of the country.
It is worth noting that sets of Windsors do not attract a premium price per chair over a single to the same extent as other chairs.
A comb-back Windsor chair of approximately 17 80. Note the well-shaped saddle seat and the leg turning which is emphasized at the lower part. Many American Windsor chairs are of this design.
Sets are also not usually found of this type
A modern Windsor chair made to a mid-18th century design. The seat would be very ample and the chair of bold proportions. Note the curving crinoline stretcher between the front legs - a feature usually associated with better-made chairs.
Price Range: (for original period chair)
Unusual Windsor chair with high back C. 1800. Note the vase shaping of the centre splat which is attractive. Nevertheless a heavier appearance is given by the splat.
18th century Windsor chair. Difficult to date exactly since this type was made for a long time, but probably late in the century and continuing into the early 19th century. The simple stickback without a splat and saddle seat are typical of the earlier types. The curving arm supports are also interesting since during and after the Regency period turned arm supports became the fashion. This indicates that this chair may be earlier. However this design appears in Gillows cost books in the early 19th century both in mahogany and an elm and cherrywood combination.
Price Range: Elm and Cherrywood
A child’s Windsor chair with the Gothic arched back in yew wood. Although the arm supports and legs bear fairly representative 19th century turning work, the crinoline stretcher and well shaped splat make this a nicely proportioned and well made chair.
A fairly typical Windsor chair of the 19th century. The proportion and the turning of legs and arm supports are altogether heavier. There are still reasonable numbers of these chairs in existence and their very strong construction particularly when yew is used, makes them very durable and utilitarian antiques.
A fairly common type of low backed Windsor used for dining purposes. Note the turned arm supports which indicate 19th century origins.
Another child’s Windsor chair, this time of the high feeding type. Holes are left through the arms so that a spindle may be inserted to prevent the child falling out. The front rest has been removed and the holes in the front legs to fit it can be clearly seen. The splat is decorated with the Prince of Wales feathers, an emblem popular from Hepplewhite’s time onwards, but usually dating from the early 19th century in these chairs.
A mid-19th century Mendlesham chair, a Suffolk variation of Windsor designs rather allied to Lancashire chairs in the decoration.
A late 19th century development of the Windsor chair. Rather ornate with heavyturning; simpler versions were common in schools and offices or institutions until recently.
The Smoker’s Bow, a chair very common in offices and public houses from the end of the 19th century onwards. A large heavy chair which will stand considerable abuse. The horizontal hoop is no longer made bybending the wood but is constructed from several pieces shaped on a band saw and screwed together. In early Windsor chairs this method of forming the hoop was adopted but not always by using screws; the upright spindles did this.
Another simple variation of a type which was made during the latter half of the 19th century. In this case there is no left arm since the chair was made for an Officer’s mess where the facility to rise, wearing a sword, without picking up the chair as well was a considerable advantage.

CHAIRS  country and kitchen : rush-seated, 1860-1930
We have started this section off with the William Morris Sussex rush-seated chair  again. This is appropriate, because the chair was a genuine country type Ire-discovered’ by the Morris firm and typical of country work
which had continued uninterrupted by the vagaries of fashion. Many of the chairs in this section are of typical country type or mass-produced simple chairs suitable for kitchens and the dining room. They are reasonably durable, suitably-priced, very functional in design and mostly pleasing to look at.
This chair may be seen on the right-hand side of the William Morris catalogue advertising the ‘Sussex’ range of rush-seated chairs. Originally they were birch, ebonised or stained dark green, using Ford Madox Brown’s
discovery of a green stain. The design of the chair is said to be traditional, and it is stronger than it looks. The posture required of the sitter is a bit severe. Note the way that the inclined arm supports go right through the seat rail and down into an extra cross stretcher, where their finely-tapered ends locate through the stretcher, like dowels, to add to strength. These chairs set a fashion for many other rush-seated types.
1865-1895
A variation on the previous design, using the same arm-support extension down through to an extra cross-stretcher. The back design is a variant on the ‘wavy-line’ ladder-back. c. 1870
A bamboo rush-seated chair in which the influence of William Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement and the Japanese or ‘quaint’ style are gaily intermingled. By the 1870s, leading firms were producing bamboo
furniture cheaply to cater for the popular Japanese vogue. In this chair the traditions of Sussex and Tokyo have been determinedly blended. 1870-1910
A fruitwood chair designed by Ernest Gimson. The rush seat is conventional. Note the careful proportion and
the spacing of the ladder back  a very satisfying chair to look at.
Not all country chairs were made by simple country craftsmen. This oak armchair with rush seat was probably designed by R. Norman Shaw about 1876 and retailed by William Morris. It rests at the Victoria and Albert Museum, who note that it was at the Tabard Inn, Bedford Park. The high back, with turned uprights and simple straight splat, owes a good deal to early 18th century chairs, but the turning on the front legs is much later in concept. c. 1876
A cleaned-off rush-seated armchair with an unusual back incorporating wavy, slightly ‘quaint’ slats with pierced circles in them. Made of birch and originally stained black. c. 1885
A rush-seated ‘art nouveau’ chair with round-capped uprights to the back which are echoed by the front legs. Although it looks simple, it is a deceptive chair, in which the plain oak surface in the back has a simple
fielded panel carved in it and the spacing of the flat cross slats beneath has been very carefully designed and proportioned. It is a chair of traditional country ancestry but redesigned in a modern, arts and crafts form
which indicates an architect behind it somewhere. 1890-1910
A chair by Liberty’s of London of rather solid oak splat construction in the ‘art nouveau’ manner.
Four small rush-seated chairs of mass-produced type in sub-Sheraton designs which were intended for kitchen or dining room use. A large variety of this type were turned out in Edwardian times. 1900-1920
A bobbin-turned yew chair with rush seat designed by Ernest Gimson. The bobbin-turning dates back to the 17th century and the style is derivative of that earlier period. Evidence again of the late 19th and early 20th
century desire to get back to simpler and more natural styles. c. 1905
A remarkable example of a low-backed ladderback chair with rush seat illustrated by Maurice Adams in 1926. The distinctive top rail is derived from the ‘Macclesfield’ design of country chair originating in 1790-1830. It is almost a faithful reproduction but the back design is not quite true. Would probably be sold nowadays as an ‘early 19th century’ chair. 1920-1930
Quite elegant ladderback rush-seated chairs of a design not far from Ernest Gimson and traditional types but, in fact, modern chairs from Maurice Adams 1926 catalogue. 1920-1940
The spindle and ladderback country chair was also made throughout the 19th century and much reproduced in the 1920s and 1930s when both types suited the vogue for oak ‘Jacobean’ dining rooms. Both these
examples are straightforward copies of early 19th century chairs taken from Maurice Adams’ 1926 catalogue. There were many producers of such chairs. On the left is a spindle-back rush-seated chair of a Lancashire
or Yorkshire type made from the 18th century onwards. On the right a `wavy-line’ ladderback of similar dating. Both are popular country chairs and have continued to be sought after. It is likely that many 20th century versions, with a bit of wear knocked into them, would be sold as being of much earlier date.
A rush-seated ladder-back chair of a mass-produced type, post-First War, which has used the fashion set by Morrisian and country chairs for its design. Compared with architect-designed types, it does not quite come off because the back is a little too long and clumsy, with its square uprights set at an uncomfortable angle, for the turned front legs. Nevertheless, made in a pleasant birch or beech, a cheerful chair for ‘country’ style kitchens or dining rooms. 1920-1935

CHAIRS  Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau and after : 1860-1930
The reader is not going to be bored by another harangue on the differences between the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau. That is done frequently throughout other sections of the book. Most of the chairs here will be known loosely as ‘art nouveau’ by the trade and many collectors. So be it.
We have illustrated a chair by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for information even though many would claim that it should not be in a Guide of this sort. We dispute this hotly as we explained in the Introduction. Although
chairs by Mackintosh are perhaps the province of Sotheby’s Belgravia and other fine art specialists when it comes to sale values, this book is used as much as an art reference work as it is a Price Guide. Besides, our
readers are not beyond finding a Mackintosh chair and an indication of value is what they are paying for.
A William Morris rush-seated ‘Sussex’ armchair as shown in the firm’s catalogues of the 1870s. This chair is also featured in the Country and Kitchen section but it is legitimately shown here because the middle-class
trendies who bought Morris & Co. furniture used these chairs for dining and occasional use, thus reflecting the genuine role that Morris & Co. played in the Arts and Crafts Movement. Many rush-seated chairs were
produced in emulation of this precedent. So there! 1865-1895
The use of rush seating seems to have been an almost morally-inspired move by the members of the Arts and Crafts Movement, as though rush seats and plain oak, with their `country’ connotations, were somehow
less decadent than stuffed Victorian upholstery. But then architects have always been puritans at heart. Add to that characteristic the socialist principles of William Morris and where do you land On something fairly hard, usually. It was Voysey and others, designing in what is known as the ‘vernacular’ tradition, i.e. in the native idiom  who produced chairs in clean lines made of plain oak and with seats of rush. This chair exhibits all these characteristics and the motifs, now associated with ‘art nouveau’, such as the heart shape, used by Voysey. 1890-1910
The celebrated design by A.H. Mackmurdo of the Century Guild. A chair with a high back and original upholstery with characteristic ‘heart’ shapes. A similar chair is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. c. 1885
Another chair by the
William Morris firm, in which the
tulip motif has been used in the inlaid panels in the back uprights. Again, based on a traditional form but this time the width of the back and the length of the arms is a bit attenuated. 1900-1912
A rush-seated chair by William Burges (q.v.) painted dark green, with painted decoration. It has been remarked (by Michael White-way) that the chair looks like something out of a modern Italian cafe. Possibly slightly pre-dates the William Morris chairs but at this point Burges and Morris were fairly close.
An oak rush-seated chair in a style going on from progressive-art nouveau towards something more modern, as evidenced by the arched cross-stretcher between the legs. The tapering back with the pierced ‘handle’ looks most uncomfortable. 1905-1915
More rush seating, more vertical discomfort. Very much a ‘clean’ archi-
tect’s design, the back following a model by William Birch. c. 1900
Plain oak, rush seat, but not particularly likely to have been made by a ‘known’ designer too stiff, a bit pinched. 1980-1910
Chair designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh of Glasgow, now famous for the elongated shape, the low proportion of the seat and the strange motifs, weepy eyes, seagullsviewed-end-on and other Mackintosh
hallmarks. Before you mock or turn away, reflect that Mackintosh designed his furniture to make specific impacts in rooms of high proportion or in the now-famous cafes and tea rooms where other designs would have been unnoticed. His work now sells as ‘art’ rather than furniture, hence the price. 1890-1910
An art nouveau armchair with decorated back panel in characteristic floral design. The wavy arm supports are a ‘quaint’ feature. Possibly Liberty’s. May have had a rush seat subsequently covered over. c. 1900
A more commercial art nouveau chair with characteristic heart shapes cut through. The seat looks like a repair job.
Commercial oak chair with a rexine or leatherette seat cover fixed by brass studs. Owing something to ‘art nouveau’ styles due to the tapering back and legs ending in ‘block’ feet but fairly mass-produced in appearance. 1890-1910
Another oak art nouveau chair, quite good quality and stiffened for strength by the curved apron under the seat. An enduring design.
Arm and single chair of commercial production with drop-in rush seats.
c. 1900    Singles in sets, each 30  40 arm, each 50 00
A somewhat Scandinavian - looking chair with leather panels in the bobbined back and a leather seat. The panels are moulded with flowers and birds. Very ,arts and crafts’.
A lattice-back chair by Ernest Gimson. He was fond of the lattice back and many who admired him followed this feature. Note that the chair is deceptively simple; it is beautifully made and carefully thought out. The
box-and-ebony stringing lines inlaid in the back uprights are characteristic of the later Arts and Crafts Movement.
c.1915    Set of six 3,000  4,000 Photo: Courtesy Jeremy Cooper Ltd.
Another lattice back, this time by Ambrose Heal, in oak. A very traditional, almost 18th century chair. As it is a furnisher’s chair, the seat has been upholstered and covered in a contemporary material, rather than the
rush seat of Gimson type.
1910-1920    Set of six 2,000  2,500 Photo: Courtesy Michael Whiteway
More ‘Cotswold’ lattice back chairs, this time with leather seats and cabriole/pad foot front legs.
Three chairs with wooden seats and loose cushions from Percy Wells, c.1920, intended for ‘the small house’ or cottage. The design is an interesting blend of simple sub-18th century lower halves, combined with top
halves that are also derived from the 18th century and art furniture. Wells disapproved of all the modern chairs in “tens of thousands of cottages and small houses in the streets of our towns and cities”. He must have been busier than a church visitor. The only good examples, to him, were Windsors, stick, or ladderback types, but  wait for it  they were not ‘easy to dust’. Deplorably, people would think of Windsors as kitchen chairs and would hence buy stuffed-seat plush chairs with a little bad carving on the back and, still worse, polishing or varnishing the legs. Wells’ designs aimed at being strong, comfortable and easy to clean. They were made in any hard wood such as oak, elm, beech or birch, and were intended to strike a medium between ‘kitchen’ chairs and ‘flashy and flimsy’ modern chairs. They were pretty successful in meeting his objectives and survive in large numbers, with variants in the back design. Not far removed from the small oak Edwardian chairs illustrated earlier, but far better in proportion and design.
In sets, each 15  25 c. 1920
A mahogany ‘carving’ chair designed by Percy Wells c. 1920. The legs and arms are distinctly Sheraton in form but the ladder-back is much more forceful and owes something to the Heal-Gordon Russell school of
design.
Good fan-back dining chairs, of 18th century inspiration, of a type made in walnut, oak or mahogany. An honest simple design which is again thin below the seat  the front seat rail would look much better if it were
deeper. 1920-1930
An oak chair with a ’sunburst’ back  art deco is on the way. An otherwise unremarkable chair except for the thoughtful chamfering of the square front legs at the edges. 1910-1920
Lattice-back chairs of the 1920s, made in oak walnut or mahogany. Probably inspired by the Ernest Gimson-Gordon Russell school of lattice backs but in this case from Maurice Adams. Actually these examples by Adams are well-proportioned, if a bit severe, and their modernity is in an 18th century tradition, whereas Gimson, in one of his lattice-backs, terminated the square section front legs in little, scrolled feet, which must have set even his most ardent followers’ teeth on edge. 1920-1930
An interesting design of oak chair, showing the arm, or ,carver’ and single chair from a set. The back, with its simple cross-lattice, reflects influences going back to Russell, Gimson and even Godwin, but the arms are not particularly attractive. The aforementioned designers would not have approved either of the incised carving on the top rail and the front legs, introduced by a commercial manufacturer to give more popular appeal to a rather severe design. c.1930

CHAIRS — hall and porters
Though grouped for convenience they are in fact complete opposites. The hall chair offers a rock-like resistance to the posterior and the back no comfort. It is almost as though they were designed to impress on those made to wait, the fact they were being made to do so. They were made in sets and were often carved with emblems of coats of arms as if to further enhance the superior position of their owner. The porter’s chair on the other hand was made reasonably comfortable to protect him from the rigours of a job which condemned him to draughts, and if comfortable are very desirable.
Back patterns are normally little guide to date as they continued to be made over long periods. It is the legs which normally provide the key as to age.
Understandably the uncomfortable ones do not command large sums for they have a very limited application to the modern home.
A hall chair of a type usually made in sets — this was one of seventeen. This example shows a highly-carved shell back with a crest motif. The pascal lamb with halo might suggest a religious establishment. The legs
are turned and reeded. 1820-1840
A mahogany hall chair of whimsical design with a pierced back. The design for the base and seat with its curious round dished centre and eccentric stretcher is straight out of Bridgen’s catalogue of 1838.
Typical of the many curved back designs which went on being made throughout the century. The hexagonal legs suggest the 1830s.
A rather unfair porter’s chair with an extremely hard solid seat,on    cabriole    legs,    in mahogany.
1850-1870
Much more comfort; a deeply buttoned hall porter’s chair, well designed to exclude those severe draughts. As the cost of deep buttoning in leather is very high, condition is highly relevant to price. A modern example
costs 800. Mid-18th century
A design of wicker work hooded chair, Welsh ash frame with straw cover. They were made in most areas but survived longest in Monmouthshire and the Severn area. Early 19th century

CHAIRS — Chippendale, provincial and country
Trying to arrange such a wide array of chairs in quality order is difficult, and dating even more so. Colour is important and personal preference plays a stronger part in assessment than for London-made pieces which
can be judged against known standards. What is technically not very successful (i.e. 152) can prove very appealing to live with, hence values are surprisingly uniform. Sets of chairs of this period cost about six times the single price for a set of four, and around ten times for a set of six.
One could speculate that the splat is a mixture of Chippendale (top half) and pre-Chippendale (bottom half), but the result is successful. The top rail flows convincingly into the splat. The shell is a pleasing touch and the cabrioles are very well made. The whole effect is successful. c. 1750
Interesting provincial example. The maker has obviously seen a high quality example but has been afraid to do more than a pastiche of the splat design; rightly because his shoulder supports to the legs illustrate his
limitations. What he has got gloriously right is the broad low back and big square seat that no Victorian would ever dream of producing. c. 1760
In oak, with fully upholstered seat. The maker has a reasonable grasp of the Chippendale idea but the splat is a little too broad and the effect is flat and stiff. Nevertheless a pleasing chair. c. 1760
A frequently encountered design which one might describe as provincial rather than strict country — in other words, rather a solid, solemn effect with neither the high decoration of the city example nor the character of
the country. c. 1760    Set of six $2, 000
Made in walnut at a time when most chairs of this quality were in mahogany. The splat is very successful — no carving except some simple gouging at the ends of the top rail. The deep rounded front seat rail and the
solid but elegant cabrioles make this a fine chair. It could pass for a chair from New York State of a slightly later date, and no doubt many do. 1750

CHAIRS — Chippendale, straight leg
For convenience of comparison, this page discusses only examples with straight legs. Some of Chippendale’s finest examples in fact utilised the cabrioles. Many of the backs are slightly lower and the seats slightly wide on some of the very good examples. The prosperous second half of the eighteenth century saw a proliferation of designs and some highly decorative workmanship. Styles include Gothic and Chinese and effects such as riband were used.
A superb museum quality example with top quality splat, the stretchers have pierced frets, and the rest, except the back legs, is blind fretted. Odd chairs of almost this quality can still occasionally be found.
A good Chippendale chair, whose finely carved top rail and decoration on the splat give it style. The legs are moulded and decorated with carefully carved notches, and the boldness of the four intertwining loops in the
splat corresponds to a design in Ince and Mayhew’s Universal System, 1759-1763.
Set of six $12, 000 — 15, 000
A chair of considerably less quality, it has moulded legs and an elegant and reasonably intricate splat, but the top rail lacks carved motifs and the effect is one of solid comfort rather than impressiveness.
An almost country interpretation of the design; the Chippendale splat and legs are there but the main decoration comes from the curl at the extremities of the top rail and the base of the splat, hangovers from the pre-Chippendale period . Compare the design of the splat with those of the three preceding examples. The interlaced strands are a bit close at the top and meet the top rather than flow from it. The chair is in walnut which supports the country made provenance.
Note may not be aesthetically a success but financially it makes the grade. It is precisely this lack of equation between quality and price that makes it essential for the collector to learn to discriminate. c.1770

CHAIRS — antique oak dining chairs, English

walnut dining chair - oak dining chairs - Carolean dining chair - Yorkshire/Derbyshire oak dining chair - 17th century oak chairs - cabriole leg black wooden wooden chairs
By the mid-seventeenth century single antique oak dining chairs instead of carved wood chair dining table upholstered came into vogue for diners other than the head of the house and his wife.  Oak chairs were similar in construction, often with vertical slats rather than panels in the back. Normally, the back uprights are of square section, whereas there is some turning on the front legs and a central, turned front cross-stretcher. These chairs did not have the same range of carving as the prestigious panelled chair.
This is a sophisticated walnut dining chair of 17th century showing Continental (mainly Dutch) influence on British post-Restoration design. This fine bold chair shows the walnut through the original ebonising, particularly on the moulded back and scrolled stretcher. c. 1670
This is an early Carolean dining chair, with a high back and solid severe back uprights but turned front legs and cross-stretcher. Vertical back slats are moulded, the top rail carved with scrolls. The back uprights end in a scroll — a feature of these chairs. c.1660-1680
A highly distinctive Yorkshire/Derbyshire oak chair with overlay detail on back, typified by two or more horizontal back rails normally incorporating down turned crescents or open circles. Turned adornments, such as the acorns seen here, applied split balusters and curved tops to the backs are also found. The back rails are almost always carved or at least incised. The entire decoration of the oak chairs is ‘above table’, presumably for show, for the bases are conventional, the occasional variation being a high rail to retain a cushion on the solid seat.
Mid-to-late 17th century oak chairs are not similar to French louis 14th chair with their animal legs, made for mahogany drop leaf tables.
Shows later design, both cabriole leg black wooden chairs in the back, which has a down curved centre in the top rail, and in the shaped centre splat which fits into a ’shoe’ at seat level which suggests a post-1710 date. While the base is similar in design to the previous examples, the turning has lost its vigour and the central decoration on the underside of the front seat rail is a later concept.

Read also about Empire style claw foot furniture chairs as well as rococo and French oak and walnut furniture walnut side chairs.