Please Help to Identify this Chair
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unclemac
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folk in the trade can give you a better estimate, but it looks commercially made and has had the seat rewoven. I would guess 1880 to 1910 would be fair. but it could be much younger too. It seems to have some legit wear but not enough to bust it up. Those chairs are sturdy enough but not made to be tossed around and leaned back on.
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Nice old chair.
It’s very similar in style to this pair of French provenceaux chairs from the 1800s, but the style was widely used in multiple countries and through to the first part of the 1900s.
There are several possible reasons for low chairs. Generally, up until the mid-19th century, chairs (and especially parlour chairs) were lower because people were shorter! The shorter you are, the less leg room you need when seated in a relaxed position. Secondly, especially during the Victorian era, low chairs enabled women constrained by stiff corsets to interact with small children without having to bend over. Those kinds of chairs are usually upholstered and invariably armless (sometimes known as “slipper chairs”). Thirdly, just because the seat base is low, doesn’t mean that was the actual seating position. Many chairs like yours would have had a thick upholstered cushion for additional comfort.
That pair above were being sold with their cushions:
It’s very similar in style to this pair of French provenceaux chairs from the 1800s, but the style was widely used in multiple countries and through to the first part of the 1900s.
There are several possible reasons for low chairs. Generally, up until the mid-19th century, chairs (and especially parlour chairs) were lower because people were shorter! The shorter you are, the less leg room you need when seated in a relaxed position. Secondly, especially during the Victorian era, low chairs enabled women constrained by stiff corsets to interact with small children without having to bend over. Those kinds of chairs are usually upholstered and invariably armless (sometimes known as “slipper chairs”). Thirdly, just because the seat base is low, doesn’t mean that was the actual seating position. Many chairs like yours would have had a thick upholstered cushion for additional comfort.
That pair above were being sold with their cushions:
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