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.

Antique Chair in Oak - A Charles II  c.1675  oak chair - Late Seventeenth Century Country Walnut Chair

Mid-seventeenth century chair in oak, with elaborately carved back, c.1650.
The earlier seventeenth century forms of chair were not dissimilar from this, with the exception of the elaborate winged scrolls on the uprights. Earlier chairs tended to be simpler, with square backs and the decorative areas were less profusely carved. Later in the century the carving exhibited a variety of motives. Note the heavy construction, with column turned legs and square stretchers. Simpler chairs have `scratchings’ in diamond or other shapes in place of the carvings. Large quantities of these chairs were made, often with dates and initials of owners. Some are decorated with inlays of box, holly (white), and ebony (black) in geometrical and floral designs. Country makers continued to produce them until the early eighteenth century.
Price Range: Very wide and geared to quality of inlay and carving. Prices of $100  $150 relate to highly carved versions; simple ones with scratch decoration are to be found at Victorian ‘improvers’ tended to add initials, dates and carving to simple chairs.
Mid-seventeenth century chair in oak, c.1650. Note the diamond-shaped scratch decoration in the panelled back and solid pegged seat. The front legs are turned in rather bulbous baluster fashion, but the joints remain square, and the pegs in the floor-level square section stretcher tenon joints can be seen. The seat is very worn but the remains of the moulded edge can be seen along the rear left-hand side. The front rail is carved in the same decorative manner as the back and shaped on the lower edge; again the pegged tenon joints are evident.
Price Range: Not at present a popular taste. Single chair $35  $45. Value points: Quality of turning and carving…
An oak ‘Derbyshire chair’ of c.1650, showing the arcaded back and split baluster decoration on the uprights. Note that the seat is inset or dished to allow for a cushion.
Value points: Quality of carving and turning
N.B. The chair in the illustration is a reproduction.
Cromwellian oak chair, c.1660, of country construction. Note the square outline and the retention of the floor level square stretchers. The back is straight and the turning simple.
A mid-seventeenth century country oak chair, c.1650, of pleasing simplicity and robust construction. The legs are still column turned as in our previous example and left square at the joints for the tenons, which were pegged. The back is panelled and without decoration. Not a popular collector’s chair at present but still well within reach of the modest pocket.
Cromwellian chair, c.1660, demonstrating movement towards lighter design still based on turning. The twist turning was popular in the period and the piece is made of walnut, a wood much more commonly used in the
seventeenth century than is generally supposed. The chair is covered with leather fixed to the frame with heavy nails. Not a chair commonly found in antique shops; it is of a specialist collector’s taste. Bobbin turning rather than twist is often found and beech as well as oak or walnut was used.
A Charles II  c.1675  oak chair of radical development. The design is of Continental influence and more continuous. Apart from being carved the design of the scroll both on legs, front stretcher and back, serves to obscure rather than emphasize the method of construction. Cane backs were introduced around 1665 and help to lighten the overall appearance. Twist turning is still evident as well as the square back leg and stretcher joints.
Value points: Walnut, Carving, particularly of front stretcher which can be very ornate
Simple oak chair of Charles II period, c.1675, with cane back. The front stretcher is simply turned and the seat has been upholstered, perhaps later. The quality is indicated by the fine sweep of the arms and the
execution of the carved top cresting rail.
Late seventeenth century country walnut chair, c.1680. Note the high back. Rather than incur the expense of the cane back of the town example the country craftsmen used vertical solid bars. The stretchers still follow
earlier designs with simple turning and square sections at the tenon joints. The uprights are turned.
A late seventeenth century chair of c.1695 in walnut, with velvet upholstery. The cross stretcher was a feature of the decade 1685 - 1695 and in this case it is moulded. The carved legs show a development of the
inverted cup form of Dutch origin: here it is scrolled and the square joints of these front legs are also decorated. This scrolling was of French stylistic influence.
Value points: Quality of leg and stretcher carving
Original upholstery

Country Chair of c. 1800 -  Regency Chair - A Regency Period Library Chair - A Gillows Chair - Balloon-Back Victorian Chair in Walnut

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.
Late 18th/Early 19th century oak spindle-back chairs, sometimes called ‘Lancashire’ chairs. They are rush-seated and are sometimes made of elm.
Another very elegant Regency chair with rope twist motif on the back and sabre legs. The caned seat again adds to the overall lightness of design.
A Regency arm and single chair similar to the previous example in ropetwist designbut withdrop inseats insteadof cane. Thepanelbetween the horizontal rails in the back is inlaid with brass.
A similar pair of Regency chairs with reeding continuous down back uprights, sides and sabre legs. The carved decoration is simple and elegant.
A Regency period library chair which converts into a set of steps. 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 mahogany Regency chair with lyre motif in the back. 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 seewhether the top has beendamaged; the constructionof 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.
For some reason the lyre causes a rush of blood to the head in chair purchasers; look for inflated values accordingly.
A typical Regency mahogany sabre-leg chair of pleasing proportion and design. 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.
A late Regency or William IV period chair made of mahogany. In the heavy curl of the arms and the fluted 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 fluted ones are sometimes removed ana replaced by sabre legs to increase value.
Typical late Regency-cum-William IV rosewood single chair. 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 reeled 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.
Another mid-Victorian chair with cabriole legs and needlework back and seat. The legs are more slenderly treated, with less curvature and the scrolled knobs at the feet are less accentuated.
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.
Balloon-back Victorian chair in walnut. 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.
Early Victorian (1839) Gillows chair with turned and fluted 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.

CHAIRS: COUNTRY WINDSOR
Late-18th century yew comb-back Windsor chair.
Made from the early-18thC onwards by wood turners or ‘bodgers’ setting up temporary workshops in woodland areas. Although made in many parts of the country - hence enormous regional differences in detail - High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire became, and has remained, the centre of the industry. Since the late-19thC, Windsors and their variants have been mass-produced there by machine.
They have many uses - particularly in gardens, coffee-houses and sometimes in halls (18thC) and in kitchens, farmhouses and institutions in the 19th and 20thC.
Early ’stick-back’ versions were simple, with taper-turned sticks (turned with tapering ends) rising from a saddle seat through a horizontal yew-wood hoop forming back and arm supports and dowelling into a shaped crest rail. The most distinctive of these have a comb shape - hence the term ‘comb back’. Splayed, turned legs, at first without stretchers, but soon with either turned H or curved crinoline (or cow’s horn) stretchers.
Hooped backs (with a continuous hoop rising from the back support to replace the horizontal crest rail): Shaped and pierced central splats (at first sometimes set below the back support only); and cabriole legs all
appeared around 1750.
Pierced Gothic splats: Often combined with pointed arch backs and cabriole legs, were introduced about 1760. The familiar wheel-back splat and diagonal struts rising from a ‘bobtail’ extension of the seat - both
common features on machine-made Windsors - first appeared around 1775.
‘Gothic’ Windsor armchair.
With the exception of cabrioles, front and back were turned and identical (from the late-19thC usually machine-turned with double or triple collars.
Saddle seats were common to all and arm supports either turned or (mostly before 1810) curved.
For popular variants - including the ‘Mibnc1leshann’ chair (early-19thC onwards) and the collectable ’smoker’s cow’ - see illustrations.
Various combinations of elm, ash, yew, beech, birch and fruit woods. Occasionally mahogany. Elm used almost invariably for seats; beech common for legs and, until the 19thC nearly always yew for hoops.
Selection of 19th C chairs: A, Mendlesharn,- B, smoker’s bow C, farmhouse kitchen; D, child’s Windsor highchair; F rope-back kitchen chair.
All parts dowelled. Legs and back uprights always separate (legs never continuous with uprights above). Seats split, not sawn (saw marks indicate a later date). Sticks taper-turned on a pole lathe, hence of irregular
thickness. (Machine-cut stocks have an even shape and are not tapered.) Hoops steam-bent into shape. On single chairs, the hoop passes through seat and is split and wedged underneath. On machine-made versions
this does not occur  sometimes the hoop does not pierce all the way through the seat.
Carving and piercing on splats. Turning on legs and some arm supports.
Paint common in 18thC, most fashionably green, sometimes black (japanned). Otherwise polish; some left unfinished for outdoor use. Stain and varnish used in 19thC.
VALUES
Plenty of variation. Good early and hoop back Windsors are expensive, few selling for less than four figures. 19thC versions correspondingly less. Harlequin sets of all ages are common and, if matched well, no less
expensive than an identical set. Few post-1900 sets fetch less than four figures.
Yew, crinoline stretcher, cabriole legs, comb back, Gothic splat and arched back all enhance the value.

CHAIRS: VICTORIAN UPHOLSTERED
About  1840-1900
Typical mid-Victorian lady’s drawing-room chair.
Left, a late-Victorian gentleman’s chair with scrolled arms, rounded back, straight
A’squared-up’ version 0/ the 1880’s with  machineproduced carving.
Turned legs and arm supports (the latter sometimes as a row of spindles).
CHAIRS: CORNER
Mahogany, walnut, occasionally rosewood. Stained beech and birch on later cheaper versions and for underframes. Sometimes frame of cast iron.
About 1710-1770 and about 1890-1915
Early-18thC corner chair.
Standard methods employed (see VICTORIAN BALLOON-BACKS, p. 66, and OTHER 19THC AND EARLY 20THC TYPES, p. 67). Legs structurally weak, so look for signs of new staining around repaired joints. Almost
inevitably re-upholstered, not always correctly. Should have plain seat, padded armrests and deep buttoning on the back and inside of arms only. Note that the back. buttoning starts above the waistline.
Carving: Occasionally floral or classical inlay on crest rails of squared-up versions.
French polish.
VALUES
Only the best quality, most curvaceous examples fetch more than three figures. Very many examples of all types are within the average buyer’s reach. Always take the cost of re-upholstering and fabric and trimmings
into account when negotiating.
Watch out for the new wood that characterizes increasing numbers of reproductions. These may look impressive at a glance but they lack patination and will probably have insubstantial foam upholstery.
PRIE DIEU
A very popular occasional drawing-room chair, ostensibly designed for prayer. Tall, narrow, straight back with flat top and T-shaped upholstery. Sometimes bordered by (fashionably twist) turned columns. Generally
cabriole legs on castors but later versions with straight, turned legs. Often covered with Berlin woolwork, a form of needlework popular with Victorian ladies.
Peculiar to the 18thC, and to the late Victorian; Edwardian period, corner chairs are thought by some to have been designed as gentlemen’s writing chairs. Nearly always single, only rarely seen in pairs. Despite their
awkward and uncomfortable appearance, surprisingly numerous today. Country versions abound. Often made as commode chairs.
Incorporating many features of standard chairs of their day  vase-shaped splats, cabriole legs, turned stretchers and so on; during Queen Anne period, straight legs and stretchers and pierced splats for Chippendale period, but they exhibit specific features of their own too.
Most have stretchers; there can be four of equal height, one on each side, or they can be arranged on a cross.
The back, which extends around two sides, has two splats between three identical and always turned uprights, supporting a curved, flat, horizontal rail which broadens out slightly as it extends beyond the side uprights to form arm supports. The centre of the rail rises up a few inches to form a back support. A few of these chairs have a much taller, shaped back support, in which case they are called ‘barber’s chairs’. Virtually all have drop-in seats.
On early versions, the front leg only may be cabriole, the other three being turned to match the uprights above.
As with all country-made chairs of the 18thC, design motifs may be mixed  Queen Anne splats for example, might be used with later straight legs.
Edwardian ‘revival’ versions were sometimes made of dark mahogany in Chippendale style (see p. 56) with straight legs, but more often in light mahogany with spindly, turned legs, stretchers and delicate pierced
splats. Some had raised, ornamental cresting. The seat could be drop-in; or fixed, with flattish upholstery set in one or two inches from the edge. Some country versions were made in oak with rushseats.
Walnut, mahogany and oak.
Standard practices employed. Uprights dowelled into ‘arms’ of the top rail.
Restrained carving on the best examples.
VALUES
Walnut Queen Anne cabriole leg versions are the most sought after.

CHAIRS: PRE-CHIPPENDALE - Antique chairs furniture of early 18th century - French walnut chair - Queen Anne period chairs - Chippendale chairs - antique mahogany chair - chairs in this transitional style
Antique chairs furniture of early 18th century belong a transitional phase, its most significant feature being the introduction of mahogany  hard, richly coloured and ideal for carving  following the destruction of the French walnut chair in the exceptionally hard winter of 1709. The grandest furniture of this time was made in the ponderous classical style of the architect William Kent; regular household furniture retained the simple, elegant lines of the Queen Anne period chairs, and combined them with some of the ‘new features’ now thought of as ‘Chippendale’.
Solid and substantial early 18th century chairs with broad seats and squatter and broader cabrioles than before, typically with claw-and-ball, sometimes ‘hairy paw’ feet. Winged serpentine rail characteristic of Chippendale chairs now started to appear but it was less elegant, with protruding, scrolling corners, or shoulders were rounded, dipping sharply into centre of crest rail. Splats were pierced, often ribbed and splaying out towards the top. Carving on the knees was often hipped into the seat rail. Drop-in or stuff-over seats, sometimes with show-wood rails.
Early 18th century chairs are mainly mahogany, but still some made from walnut (as stocks lasted), even for’mahoganystyle’ chairs.
Robust antique mahogany chair of the 1740s reflecting the ponderous architectural style of William heal.
No longer part-veneered chair, but constructed from solid timber throughout (see CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS, opposite).
Carving on knees and crest rail. Acanthus and foliate designs replaced former shells and small C-scrolls. Grandest chairs could be ‘parcel-gilt’, meaning small areas of gilded decoration.
The scarcity of quality, well-proportioned chairs in this transitional style pushes their price up well into the thousands. A fine pair may fetch three or even four times as much as a standard quality pair. Country or
provincial versions will usually be less than half the price.

Antique English CHAIRS, WAINSCOT OR ‘COINED’, VICTORIAN WAINSCOT CHAIRS
About 1550-1660, but still made in country areas, particularly the North, until about 1750.
Before 1600 chairs were used only by the master and mistress of the house, everyone else sitting on stools, benches or settles. Although increasingly used by lesser mortals too during the 17thC, the
presence of arms and the extent and elaboration of carving found on wainscot chairs indicate their high status. Originally they would have had a loose, upholstered seat cushion.
Most show distinctive regional characteristics too numerous to describe. For further information, see Oak Furniture by Victor Chinnery (Antique Collectors’ Club).
Flat wooden seats with moulded edge projecting slightly beyond deepish, moulded or carved seat rail. Turned legs at front, straight at back, joined by four straight and low stretchers. Gently scrolling arms with scrolled ends on turned supports; supports usually continuous with legs. Moderately tall panelled back with decorative carving and occasionally inlay. Uprights and rails often carved too; top rail extending beyond sides with supporting ‘ears’ and arched cresting.
Detail of scrolled arm and turned supports.
Oak, with holly, bog oak; fruitwoods and the like for inlay.
Tongue-and-groove panelling; pegged mortise-and-tenon joints.
Carving: Extremely variable, with many regional characteristics. Mostly stylized flowers and vines, occasionally birds. Sometimes geometric. From the late-16thC some Renaissance classical ornament such as guilloche.
Inlay or marquetry: Usually floral, occasionally geometric borders.
Polish. Should have good patina.
VALUES
The most expensive (into five figures) will show all the most desirable features  a fine cresting, ‘ear pieces’, inlay or marquetry, good patina and plentiful and vigorous carving.
VICTORIAN WAINSCOT CHAIRS
Wainscot chairs were sometimes reproduced by the Victorians, but these lack patina, are generally too dark in colour and have shallow carving, restricted in extent. If these features are not obvious, look for genuine signs of wear, particularly on the front stretcher or the under-sides of the feet; and for ‘rubbed’ areas on the ends of the arms. Be suspicious if all four stretchers are equally `damaged’.
17thc wainscot chair with carved cresting, ear-pieces and panelled back.

CHAIRS — upholstered, with open arms
A walnut chair with shepherd’s crook arms and cabriole legs of high quality carving incorporating shell motifs; hipped to the decorated seat rail. It has ball-and-claw feet. The termination of the back legs is interestingly designed. 1720-1730
A leather-covered mahogany chair on cabriole legs with four ball-and-claw feet. Scroll and leaf carving completes the value points on this thoroughly robust piece. c. 1740
A mid-century design of chair with a gadrooned leaf carved front rail and the fine decoration to the cabrioles which end in very successful scrolled feet, as used by Chippendale in some of his designs. Very elegant chair.
Another Chippendale motif, three clustered column carved front legs to give a slightly bamboo effect. The leaf carving on the reeded curved arms is a typical period design. 1750-1770
A variant in the style of the back which gives altogether a lighter appearance, which is however not supported by the thick Chippendale moulded legs; the arms by contrast are excellent. One can well see why the lighter neo-classical designs were so popular. c. 1765