ID antique chairs ?

[Mike.S]

I have four antique(?) chairs to dispose of for my father and would like to try and identify them before I approach any dealers/auctions/ebay etc. Hopefully, one or more of readers will be able to at least point me in the right direction.

Sorry, the pics aren't clearer - my 85 year old Dad's the photographer. The chair backs are painted (not inlay).

In fact there's two pairs - you'll notice the left hand one is lower to the ground (almost child size). They were inherited from someone many moons ago and I can only date their provenance to the 1960's - so I guess they could be repro's rather than 'proper' antiques. However, the local skip delivery driver (who does a lot of house clearances) offered £100 on the spot but I'd like to know a bit more before I sell them. An online search of antique dealers etc hasn't revealed the same type of chairs but legs are chippendale style, another describes them as 'fancy' chairs but I'm really none the wiser.

Any help/thoughts would be welcome.

Mike

 

[dickm]

Very tentatively would agree with your diagnosis of repro, but looks like pretty high end repro and well looked-after. At a guess, possibly Edwardian, or just possibly, 1950s. Any other diagnostic features - what sort of timber, what quality of timber, what style and quality of joints, any signs of wear in obvious places like the splat or where the back legs join the seat?

 

[Mike.S]

Thanks Dick for your initial thoughts. I'm visiting my Dad's house over the weekend so will take better pics and check the joints etc and update the post. I'm not strong on wood id (my guess is mahogany, but only because it appears to be an unstained reddish/brown wood) but will try to get a well lit, better quality, picture as that may help.

I'm guessing that you ask about wear as this may indicate age? All I know is that they were all professionally re-upholstered in the 1970's using a green velvet instead of the original red.

 

[Mike.S]

Managed to obtain some better pictures of the chairs, specifically the wood and joints.

All four chairs:

Side view:

Here's a close up of the wood - is this mahogany?

Rear leg joint:

Front leg joint (external):

Front leg joint (internal):

Funnily enough a designer contact of my son's also thought they might be Edwardian but if DickM or anyone can confirm this or opine on the wood, construction quality or other relevant details I'd be most grateful.

 

[pip1954]

hi mike.s
my gut would say repro look underneath at the colour how it appears to change on the edge, same with inside the leg brackets
but then what do i know.
they could well be right i like the painting
pip

 

[dickm]

Certainly a mahogan-ish timber, but wouldn't like to place money on exact species. The staining/painting definitely says repro, but the quality of construction looks good, so high end. Still sticking with the initial diagnosis of 1920s/30s - older than that would be likely to show more wear pattern on the rear splat, where folk had wriggled around on the chairs.
Overall, really nice if you like that design (which I do). Unfortunately, "brown furniture" doesn't seem to be very popular at the moment, so they may well not be worth as much as they deserve. Worth hanging on to, either as users or to wait for the market to come to its senses

 

[Mike.S]

Thanks Dick and pip

The suggestion of Edwardian and Mahogany(ish) wood allowed me to narrow the search, which turned up this.

This chair looks identical (upholstery aside) except for the fact that it's inlaid - versus painted. I wonder if this was common practice e.g. perhaps create a reproduction using painting versus the more expensive (I assume) inlay/marquetry. In any event, I've now sufficient knowledge to surmise that it's likely an early to mid 20th century reproduction of an Edwardian chair.

As Dick says, likely of no great value but I'm pleased to have unearthed the 'story' behind them. Your help is much appreciated.

 

[dickm]

Just to add a few more penn'orth, yes, painting was a very common way of imitating "proper" inlay in the earlier years of 20th century. Done well, it can actually be more attractive than anything but the very top grade inlay. And it was also used to give the effect of more expensive timber. Years ago, our family had a set of what looked very like rosewood dining chairs, with nice sabre front legs and cane seats. Only when we came to sell them did we realise that they weren't rosewood at all (not surprising, given what they cost!) but a red hardwood that had been very skilfully painted to resemble rosewood.