A Mahogany Sheraton Style Single Chair - Country Sheraton Design Armchair  -  Chair of the Early Regency Period

A Sheraton design chair of considerable workmanship. Many such chairs are to be found painted in white and gilt or otherwise having painted decoration on birch or beech wood. In the main the painted versions are
more highly sought after than the mahogany ones, which makes for higher prices. Note the turned and fluted legs. The arm uprights have spiral reeding.
A Sheraton design arm and single chair in mahogany. The uprights and arms are reeded, which lightens the square solidarity of design. Note the vase shaped turned arm supports and the way in which the broad top
rail is panelled. The legs and back uprights are reeded; this effect is also carried round the panel in the wider top back rail.
A simpler Sheraton design with tapering legs normally made in mahogany. 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.
Late 18th century arm and single chairs. Note the broad top rail in the back, the panel veneered in figured mahogany. The spiral twist middle rail is a feature of quality particularly important in value assessment of these chairs. The legs are turned, without any fluting. The arms of the elbow chair sweep forward and curve down to meet the line of the front legs. The proportion of these admirable smaller dining chairs makes them
extremely popular in the modern home,
Another late Georgian c. 1810 mahogany armchair, something of a combination of Sheraton and prevailing styles. The wide top back rail is veneered with a panel of figured mahogany and the centre rail is elegantly
reeded. The turning of the front legs and the arm supports, with the popular vase shape, is lightly and gracefully done. Occasionally brass stringing will be found around the inlaid back panel, which adds to the
decorative value.
A mahogany Sheraton style single chair 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.
A mahogany armchair of the late 18th century. 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.
Country Sheraton design armchair in mahogany with bowed solid seat. A satisfying and simple country design of which many were made to meet the popular demand caused by the town versions.
A simpler Sheraton design with tapering legs normally made in mahogany. 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.
Late 18th century arm and single chairs. Note the broad top rail in the back, the panel veneered in figured mahogany. The spiral twist middle rail is a feature of quality particularly important in value assessment of these chairs. The legs are turned, without any fluting. The arms of the elbow chair sweep forward and curve down to meet the line of the front legs. The proportion of these admirable smaller dining chairs makes them
extremely popular in the modern home.
Another late Georgian c. 1810 mahogany armchair, something of a combination of Sheraton and prevailing styles. The wide top back rail is veneered with a panel of figured mahogany and the centre rail is elegantly
reeded. The turning of the front legs and the arm supports, with the popular vase shape, is lightly and gracefully done. Occasionally brass stringing will be found around the inlaid back panel, which adds to the
decorative value.
Proportion and design  Figure of wood and inlays
A country Sheraton single chair in mahogany with straight legs and solid seat. The square back with vertical rails owes much to the popularity of Sheraton styles, otherwise the design comes from a straightforward 18th century construction.
A rather heavier Sheraton style mahogany country chair with drop-in seat. 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, 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.
Lightness and elegance of design

A mahogany Hepplewhite Chair - A Country Hepplewhite Design Chair - Georgian Chair

A mahogany Hepplewhite chair of pleasing proportions. The arms show the more restrained curves of the late 18th century although the seat, legs and stretchers are still bold and firm in proportion.
A Country Hepplewhite design chair of a type most frequently found made in elm. Normally they are stained or varnished to look like mahogany, and have been stripped and polished later if now in the natural wood. The

design is known as a camel-back and is a logical development of the town-made mahogany one; simpler in execution and less decorated. The seat is solid and would probably have had a squab cushion on it.
Hepplewhite mahogany shield-back arm and single chair c.1790. The craftsmanship involved in making a successful shield-back chair is of the highest order and to obtain the necessary degree of comfort and stability as well as fine proportion is a task of considerable difficulty. The central baluster of these two fine chairs are joined to the top rail by the ‘Prince of Wales feathers’, a very favourite motif with Hepplewhite and one beingemphasized in his Guide . The shield -backs are edged with a small double beading on the inner and outer edges. The legs on these are not reeded and there is less decoration than that of the preceding example.
Proportion and quality of carving  Structural condition and originality
Fine quality Hepplewhite arm and single chair. Note the leaf carving on the back and round the top rail to finish half way down the uprights. The influence of Robert Adam is evident in these.
A mahogany Hepplewhite chair which suggests a development from a Chippendale design rather than a break from it. The structure is very similar; the front legs are not tapered on the inside edge and the camel-back form of top back rail tempers the outward sweep of the uprights.
Hepplewhite shield-back chair c. 1790. The carving of the back is of particularly fine quality. The tapering legs are reeded and the decoration of brass studs adds further ornamentation. Normally executed in mahogany.
Price Range: considered by many to be a high point in English design, original shield back Hepplewhite chairs fetch very high prices. Those below are an indication:-
A mahogany Hepplewhite chair of pleasing proportions. The arms show the more restrained curves of the late 18th century although the seat, legs and stretchers are still bold and firm in proportion.
A Country Hepplewhite design chair of a type most frequently found made in elm. Normally they are stained or varnished to look like mahogany, and have been stripped and polished later if now in the natural wood. The design is known as a camel-back and is a logical development of the town-made mahogany one; simpler in execution and less decorated. The seat is solid and would probably have had a squab cushion on it.
Hepplewhite mahogany shield-back arm and single chair c. 1790. The craftsmanship involved in making a successful shield-back chair is of the highest order and to obtain the necessary degree of comfort and stability as well as fine proportion is a task of considerable difficulty. The central balusters of these two fine chairs are joined to the top rail by the ‘Prince of Wales feathers’ , a very favourite motif with Hepplewhite and one

being emphasized in his Guide . The shield-backs are edged with a small double beading on the inner and outer edges. The legs on these arenot reeded and there is less decoration than that of the preceding example.
A mahogany chair of c. 1790 of a design also associated with Hepplewhite although some of the conflicting trends of 18th centurydesigns are evident in the square legs and eight pointed wheel effect. It is a fairly simple version of a beautiful design and represents a considerable accomplishment in craftsmanship.
A later Georgian chair of Sheraton influence in the back but with arms more associated with Hepplewhite styles. The tapering front legs and the back are reeded; a mark of quality.
A country version of the two previous Sheraton style chairs. The seats are solid and the back leg and upright very much straighter and rigid, with very little rake. The backs are also simplified; the front stretcher is
placed high between the two front legs as with earlier chairs instead of between the two side stretchers.
Later period Victorian chair in mahogany. Note the heavier, squarer back with over-emphasized 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 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 30 to 40 years. The fully upholstered seat and moulded front rail give a heaviness not present in our rosewood William IV examplebut the back and the turned and fluted front legs could easily be associated with the 1830-40 period.
An unashamed Victorian mahogany chair 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.
A Gillows design of 1884 which owes a good deal to earlier period fashions. The 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 in what almost seems an afterthought of
design.

Country Chippendale Armchair in Elm - A Chippendale Mahogany Ladder-Back Chair -  Hepplewhite Arm and Single Chair - Hepplewhite Shield-Back chair

Country Chippendale armchair in elm c. 1770. A simple and appeallingly bold chair although this example has been worn or slightly cut down in the leg. The seat is fully upholstered, which may be a conversion due to damage to the front rail. The tenon joints are pegged.
Another Country Chippendale armchair of more ornate splat design, with drop-in seat. The Gothic influence is evident in the arching within the splat and the top rail is also arched in a slightly later style. Usually to be
found in mahogany or country wood such as elm or birch stained mahogany colour.
Many such chairs, having been used hard for many years, have had stretchers replaced or cut legs replaced. Watch also for broken or replaced splats and top rails; the latter particularly at the tenon joint with the
upright.
A Chippendale mahogany ladder-back chair of c. 1765. The ladder-back designs tended to be of later Chippendale period. In this case the back rails are elegantly designed and pierced to add lightness to the overall effect. Note the scratch moulding down the front leg corners also to add lightness and the chamfered backs of the front legs.
A Chippendale ladder-back chair with upholstered seat, slightly shaped across the front rail. The pierced rails of the ladder back help to lighten the chair.
Country Chippendale chair in mahogany c. 1760. Fully upholstered seat covered in tapestry pattern fabric. A good example of a better quality country chair.
Mahogany Chippendale chair of pleasing simplicity and proportion. The splat is elegantly curved and the back, though square in design, is curved and softened by the tapering uprights.
Hepplewhite chairs of hooped back design. The tapering legs are reeded or moulded and the back repeats this feature. Note that the arm chair is not a match with the single chairs. The back splat designs are typical of this type, finely executed and decorated with carving down the centre.
An oak country chair of c. 1760 with solid seat. The back splat still retains an echo of the Queen Anne period but the uprights and top rail join in an outward turn more akin the mid-18th century. Similar chairs in solid walnut with even earlier styles in the back pre-date these simple robust pieces.
Mahogany Country Chippendale chair of heavier proportion c. 1780. The casters under the legs have been added later, possibly to compensate for wear caused by stone floors. There is considerable workmanship in the carving of the back but the rather flattened top rail lacks the elegance of London or even provincial work.
A Hepplewhite design chair of c. 1790 with hooped back. The centre splat decorated with the circular medal-like motif with leaf decoration radiating out from a centre. A fairly typical design which is associated with Hepplewhite but which more probably emanated from Robert Adam. The legs are still of the square section straight type of Chippendale period and not as light or elegant as the normal Hepplewhite, type which were tapered. The seat is bowed. The chair is made of mahogany.
A mahogany Chippendale chair with fully upholstered seat. The back splat design is one which seems to have been particularly popular with country and later makers of this design of chair.
A ‘Chipplewhite’ design mahogany chair of c. 1780. Note that the influence of French designs has now cut the bold sweep of the arms to a more attenuated length and of less broad a scope.
Fine quality Hepplewhite arm and single chair. Note the leaf carving on the back and round the top rail to finish half way down the uprights. The influence of Robert Adam is evident in these.
A mahogany Hepplewhite chair which suggests a development from a Chippendale design rather than a break from it. The structure is very similar; the front legs are not tapered on the inside edge and the camel-back form of top back rail tempers the outward sweep of the uprights.
This is a simple version of this design. A more decorated version could well double these prices.
Hepplewhite shield-back chair c. 1790. The carving of the back is of particularly fine quality. The tapering legs are reeded and the decoration of brass studs adds further ornamentation. Normally executed in mahogany.
Price Range: considered by many to be a high point in English design, original shield back Hepplewhite chairs fetch very high prices.

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.

Antique Oak Chair, Country Oak Chairs,  Charles II Armchairs

Mid-17th Century chair in oak, with elaborately carved back.
The earlier 17th 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’ indiamond 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 18th century.
Price Range: very wide and geared to quality of inlay and carving. Prices 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-17th century chair. 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.
A mid-17th century country oak chair 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.
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.
Cromwellian chair 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 17th 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.
Cromwellian oak chair 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 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.
Simpler oak chair of Charles II period 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.
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. These chairs, taken singly, are still somewhat undervalued although sets are a specialist demand and command high prices.
Charles II chair of c. 1680 date. The rich ornamentation and crest on the head of the chair indicate that it was made for a rich man or institution. The use of figures for legs is very Continental and the gargoyle arm rests are not of English origin. It is nevertheless typical of the elaborate examples of the period and the general style adopted by the chair makers for the richer classes.
Late 17th century country walnut chair. 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.
Three more late 17th century country chairs, 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 constructionbut the variations possible in the turning of them.

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: UPHOLSTERED, WING (OR EASY)
About 1700 onwards
Deriving from adjustable-back French sleeping chairs of the 1670s and made in virtually standard 18thC form at various times until the present day, wing chairs were for relaxation, not formal use. The wings protected the sitter from draughts.
About 1700-1750: Cabriole legs, either plain with pad feet and turned stretchers, or with carved knees, claw-and-ball feet and (usually) no stretchers. Rear square legs raked backwards. Until about 1730, a marked divide between back and wings, with high curved back, and wings curving sharply down to top of bold, outward-scrolling arms. After 17 30, wings and back seem to follow one continuous curve. Two types of scroll arm.
Plump upholstery with deep, loose seat cushion.
About 1750-1780: Legs, straight, plain and square, sometimes moulded, linked by stretchers. Occasionally with blind fret carving of Chinese or Gothic nature. Back straight or waved. Wings of equal height to back.
Outward roll of arms less pronounced. Padding and seat cushion less fat.
Mid-18th century wing chair with straight legs and stretchers.
About 1780-1810: Straight, plain, tapering legs without stretchers. Sometimes on castors. Narrower look overall, with flat top and comparatively straight wings and arms.
Victorian: Various simple curving outlines and stumpy turned bun feet on castors. Reproduction Queen Anne with thin cabrioles around the end of the century.
MATERIALS
Walnut and mahogany for legs. Beech and other softwoods for under frame. Legs (and stretchers) were the only visible wooden parts, otherwise fully upholstered.
Standard methods employed. Carving on knees sometimes hipped into seat.
Repairs likely, particularly to wings. Check for loose joints. Marriages of old legs to new frames not uncommon. At least part of the underframe should be visible for inspection. Upholstery unlikely to be original.
Some carving on knees, legs and feet until about 1770.
Polish. Fashionable upholstery fabrics included silk, silk velvet, needlework, leather, silk damask. Early examples were edged with braid; after about 1750 with close brass-nailing. Gimp or tasselled fringes in Queen
Victoria’s reign.
VALUES
18thC chairs certainly in four figures, some early ones almost into five, but decreasing towards three according to date and simplicity of design. Original, usable upholstery is a considerable bonus.
REPRODUCTIONS
Many, many 20thC reproductions. Apart from some exaggerated Queen Anne versions produced before and between the wars, most lack robust quality of originals. Their appearance is not helped by insubstantial
synthetic upholstery materials.

ANTIQUE CHAIRS: CHIPPENDALE

Thomas Chippendale - rococo chairs, chinoiserie and Gothic chairs - Queen Anne chairs - mid-18thC chairs - Chippendale chairs reproductions
Chippendale chairs were originally produced in 1750-1780 by Thomas Chippendale.
Thomas Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director, published in three editions (1754, 1755 and 1762) had a historic influence on mid-18thC chair design. In it, Chippendale applied popular rococo chairs, chinoiserie and Gothic chairs motifs to already fashionable shapes for both grand and simple household furniture. Few Chippendale designs were copied precisely. Chair makers at all levels -London, provincial and country - adapted and modified their designs to suit their own chairs, and their clients’ tastes and pockets.
Lower back Chippendale chairs than previously, with serpentine crest rails, generally ending in outward-curving scrolls. (Rounded shoulders rare.) Carved and pierced splats of varied design including rococo C-scrolls, ribbons (’ribbandback’ in 18thC terminology), Gothic arches, tracery and quatrefoils, scrolls and many other. Because of poor communications, chair makers outside London did not have full access to new designs. Thus provincial designs of this time may still retain stretchers, even when made in mahogany with the ‘new’ pierced splats and winged crestings. Similarly, Queen Anne chairs are still found on mid-18thC chairs with straight, Chippendale-style legs.
The time-lag between the evolution of a new style in fashionable London and its adoption by makers elsewhere gradually diminished as communications improved, but even so, in some areas local
preferences remained strong and individual types and designs of chair persisted for several decades.
Transitional chair will Queen Anne legs and stretchers, but Serpentine rail and pierced splat,
Above and below left, designs from Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director (1754).
interlacing patterns. ‘Chinese’ chairs with Chinese fretwork instead of a splat with a pagoda-shaped cresting. Space under arms of chairs sometimes similarly filled with fretwork. (Because of their fragility and because chinoiserie was often confined to bedrooms, not many of these chairs survive.)
Side uprights were flat and either plain or fluted. Carving not unknown, but unless of high quality and obviously by the same hand as the crest rail, be suspicious.
A design often seen today, but not illustrated in Chippendale’s Director, was the ladder-back, in which the pierced and carved horizontals echo the crest rail in shape and design. Thought to date from the 1760s
onwards.
Seats were flat and straight (dished seats not introduced for dining chairs until about 1750). Square corners with straight legs, rounded with cabrioles, the latter usually indicating an early date. Stuff-over (occasionally
with show-wood rail) or drop-in seats; stuff-over seats correctly finished with close brass nails, not gimp (a 19thC method).
Comfortably shaped arms with supports rising two thirds from back.
Front legs of Chippendale chairs could be cabriole, with foliate carving on knees and claw-and-ball feet, or, more commonly, straight, either plain or with simple mouldings. Sometimes chamfered inner edges. Blind fret-carving or legs composed of carved Gothic cluster columns occasionally seen on highest quality chairs. On both types, rear legs raked backwards. As a very general rule, the steeper the angle, the poorer the quality.
H-stretcher arrangement, the cross stretcher closer to the front than previously, with an additional higher back stretcher.
Corner brackets sometimes present at top of legs. Could be Chinese fret-work.
Mahogany was the fashionable wood for chair production with instantly identifiable when made in woods other than mahogany. Often less well-proportioned and slighter overall. Can have a top-heavy look. Simpler, less confident design of splats with very little, or no, carving. Legs often completely plain; cabrioles end in pad feet. Crudest versions may have wooden seat with side-to-side planking nailed to seat frame.
beech for stuff-over seat rails (see coNSTRUCTION). Oak, walnut, elm, ash and beech chairs were used too by country makers.
Victorian reproductions of Chippendale chairs.
Either rather clumsy mahogany chairs with too much, too ornate carving and bandy and too thin cabrioles ending in heavy claw-and-ball feet; or mean and spindly-looking with flat, shaped splats and no carving at all. Frequently ill-proportioned chairs with narrow seats, tallish backs and thin, shallow seat rails. Shoe-piece is often formed as part of seat rail. Rear legs seldom raked far back. On claw-and-ball feet, claw tends to perch on, rather than clutch, the ball.
More Chippendale chairs reproductions have been made of mid-18thC chairs than of any other period, but a distinction should be made between those ‘in the style of (as above) and genuine copies, whether intended to deceive or not. It was, and still is not uncommon for a good set of chairs to be enlarged. If this was done some time ago, it may be virtually impossible to identify the later chairs. However, as they were made from different timber, there will probably be a difference in weight.
Long sets of chairs were often numbered with incised Roman numerals on the seat rail. If these are present and are not consecutive, the set is obviously incomplete.
Occasionally, arms have been added to one or more single chairs in a run to make a more saleable set. Identify these by comparing the width of the seats  a true armchair is a few inches wider than a single.
The methods employed by London makers of the mid-18thC set the standards for virtually all wooden chair manufacturers until the present day. Principal features: With one exception, mortise-and-tenon joints through.
Modern reproductions of Chippendale chairs.
Modern chairs have a particular tendency to be smaller and narrower than originals, a necessity for many of today’s smaller dining rooms. If you are thinking of buying a set of old chairs to fit around a modern reproduction
table  or vice versa  it may well be worth marking out the floor to ensure that they all fit comfortably.

Typical Chippendale chair with cabriole legs and claw-and-ball feet. One quality oak armchair with pierced legs and ,stretchers.  Mahogany armchair with ‘Gothic’ splat.  Chinese’ chair Will pagoda cresting; ladder-backsimple provincial chair with wooden seat. 6 Victorian Chippendale reproductions.
Frame of side-chair; stretcher joints usually dove-tailed. Until about 1715, all joints pegged, but after that date those on backs and leg/stretcher joints only glued. Pegging on all joints appears on country-made furniture until much later.
Arms of chairs screwed to side seat rail and back uprights, the screws countersunk in a circular groove, their heads concealed by pegs or dowels. Pointed machine-made screws did not appear until about 1850 so earlier screws can be identified by their irregularities and blunt ends. If a hand-made or lathe-turned screw has been undisturbed since the 18thC, the wood around the head will probably be noticeably stained with rust.
Left, hand-cat screw; right, machine-cut screw.
The back splat tenons into the crest rail and into the shoe below, but is glued only at the top to allow some movement of the wood. The shoe is a separate piece of wood from seat rail. Sometimes the splat passes right through the shoe, tenoning into the rail below. On stuff-over seats, the shoe is removable to allow fabric to pass beneath and simply nailed on. A re-upholstered chair will therefore have more than one set of nail holes.
The crest rail over-rides the side uprights
when curving outwards, but is set between them on a chair with rounded shoulders. In this case, each upright is in two pieces.
Backs of chairs were un-decorated. In the 18thC they were designed to stand against the wall when not in use and in theory the backs were only seen by servants. This practice persisted even when chairs were more
often left around a central table  about 1830 onwards.
Drop-in seats were rebated and the frame strengthened by small, close-fitting triangular blocks glued into the corners.
Stuff-over chear seats with rails of beech or other softwood (beech being a softer and easier wood to hammer tacks into) were strengthened at front  and just occasionally at back too  with corner braces, strips of V2 inch/ 1.75 cm square sectioned wood about 4-6 inches/9-15 cm long which rebated into grooves cut in the rails. These have often been replaced at a later date with triangular blocks with a curving outer edge, screwed to all four corners. This was a post-1840 practice and will indicate either a later date or a later repair. If the latter, the grooves cut for the original braces will be clearly visible.
A stuff-over seat with a show-wood rail was also usually made of beech, the show-wood being either a strip of veneer or a carved (or gadrooned) moulding, glued and tacked on.
Fretwork brackets and railing of ‘Chinese’ (and some other) chairs were sometimes cut from laminated wood (a process normally associated with the 20thC). Layers of veneer were glued together, the grain of alternate
sheets running in opposite directions.
Early  Chippendale chairs added to either side of cabriole knees were simply glued on, therefore often missing or replaced. These were separate pieces of wood because cabrioles were cut from a single piece of wood and extra width at the top would have meant more wastage. Replacements are usually identified by slight difference in colour and grain of wood and by carving obviously by a different hand.
Straight legs are always united by stretchers, cabrioles never at this date.
Carving, principally on splats and top rails and knees of cabrioles.
19thC Chippendale chairs may be stained in parts to disguise the use of different batches of timber.
Value always depends on a combination of factors  well-proportioned correct design and quality of craftsmanship being the most obvious reasons for a high price. Repairs even when skilfully made  will detract from the value of the piece, especially if there are replacement parts.
The price of a good single chair of this period is often into four figures and in exceptional cases close to five. As a very general guide, a pair of chairs of any date is worth about three times as much as a single, a set of four six times, and a set of six or more at least ten times as much. Until fairly recently six was thought to be a desirable number for a set, but this has now increased to eight. Examine long sets carefully for ‘enlargements’.
A chair with arms will invariably be worth more than a similar chair without, though not as much as a pair of singles.
The value of sets of good Victorian or Edwardian reproductions of 18thC chairs has increased substantially in recent years. The price of each one may equal that of a single original chair, though the set as a whole will
be considerably less valuable than an original set of equal size.
The price of provincial and country Chippendale chairs is less predictable because of considerable variation in design, but such pieces seldom fetch more than the value of their more sophisticated counterparts.
If construction does not provide you with sufficient indication of date, look for genuine signs of wear.
The front stretcher and outer edges of the front legs will always show more signs of knocks than any other part. The undersides of the feet will be rubbed and the corners may be rough from constant knocks. The crest rail and uprights may show signs of repair where the chair has been damaged by incorrect handling.
It is, incidentally, always better to lift a chair by its seat, not its back or arms. Dirt and grease deposited by hands constantly lifting the chair will have stained the underside of the front seat and crest rails and will also have accumulated in the crevices of carving and around the joints. The undersides of seat rails on 19thC Chippendale copies were often stained to simulate dirt, but the handled areas will probably look lighter where the stain has rubbed off.

CHAIRS — upholstered, neo-classical
The upholstered square shaped chairs in the earlier sections were peculiarly British. The high sophistication of the French designs towards the end of the eighteenth century were in strong contrast; and the introduction of the neo-classical designs of the Adams brothers; both resulted in demand from the rich for a less ponderous, lighter, more opulent design.
The examples that follow show the huge gradations in quality that were produced over a period. From sumptuous pieces, that in terms of quality are arguably the match of French designs, to the cosy Victorian mass-produced adaptations of the type. But even here quality varies to a surprising degree.
Adam carved wood and gilt elaborately decorated with paterae and husk. The shaped seats having a design of honeysuckle and scrolls on turned tapered legs carved with acanthus leaves. c.1770
Another Adam design chair with oval back and needlework covering. The fluting of the legs and frieze adds lightness and elegance to the design but it is nowhere near the same quality as the last example. 1760-1770
A mahogany open armchair of Adam influence, with turned legs which are fluted and reeded. An elegant design not flattered by the upholstery. 1770-1780
A Victorian walnut open armchair in the French manner —say Louis XVI — with scroll carving and of very high quality execution. One can clearly see the design moving towards the next example. Now much reproduced in Italy and Spain c.1850
This chair clearly shows the development towards the typical Victorian upholstered chair, see the section on Chairs — upholstered, Victorian. Little remains of the neo-classical. Victorian comfort and the love of curves have taken over. c. 1845

1700`s ENGLISH CHAIRS — late 17th century, lighter ‘Anglo Dutch’ designs - antique upholstered or caned chairs - oak chair with cabriole legs - small upholstered antique wooden chair claw foot- mahogany chairs - cabriole legs ebony chair in walnut
In the 1600`s lighter antique upholstered or caned chairs came into fashion. The backs were supported not by a framed panel but by cross pieces covered in leather as in the case of this `Cromwellian’ example with bobbin turned base. c. 1660
Examples such as this oak chair with cabriole legs are also found in which all the members are spiral turned and the seat and back caned. Generally structurally weak if in walnut and so the price is low. c.1760
The Dutch-inspired decorative excesses of the Restoration furniture resulted in this type of chair becoming heavily carved, as in this excellent example. But despite the mass of decoration the basic construction was still the same, except for the bold sweep of the arms. 1675
A good average example of upholstered walnut queen anne antique chair (to which castors have been added in the nineteenth century). c.1685
A more countrified cabriole legs ebony chair in walnut, none the less an interesting example for it has fine colour and shows the start of several future design trends. The centre of the top rail shows the tightly packed curve carved in the pre-Chippendale period and the simple front stretcher, the double bulge turnings found in country chairs of the early eighteenth century. The front legs end in scrolled ‘Spanish’ feet. c. 1690
Backs of the chairs became high and the construction less solid. The opportunity for highly carved decoration is still seized upon; note the exuberant front stretcher and scrolled front legs. However, the thin flat seats were dowelled into the legs and, as the wood used was often beech or walnut, they had nowhere near the strength of the earlier oak examples. This is the key to their relatively low value; many of them are unsuitable for anything other than decorative purposes.
An upholstered chair from the end of the 17th century reminds a gothic gothic. The close carved vertical splats have replaced the long panelled cane backs. Note the graceful serpentine cross-stretchers with a centre finial. The bold curve of the arms helps the fine design but is expensive on material. The seat is now upholstered. Chairs of this type were designed by Daniel Mariot. c. 1690
The high back of mahogany chairs remains as does the decorated leg support which has moved back to become a stretcher. The legs have adopted the new cabriole form as yet without much confidence. Note the awkward square section at the top and the tentative carving on the knee which is in strong contrast to the assurance of the well carved back. c.1700. Value of antique 17th centuries chairs are high and the chairs are easily identified.