chairs

[febis]

Lion head dining chairs and 6 leg sitting chair anyone seen a 6 leg chair like this?

[mart]

May I ask how you acquired these chairs ??  Can you take a pic of the legs and feet on the dining chair !! Can`t see it clearly because of shadows !!

[febis]

I found them at an estate sale.

[frogpatch]

The side chair (no arms) looks like a late Victorian piece. I used to see a lot of the lionhead carving on these years ago. Not lately though. The other one?? No clue??

[mart]

The side chair appears to be Empire revival from early 1900`s !! During the Victorian era there were several major styles going on !! This chair (in fact both chairs) look like English design to me,, but no way really to tell from pics !!
The six legged chair looks like maker gone wild !!  However it is more similar to Charles Eastlake`s design !!  He was not a furniture maker but an writer and designer !!  Therefore whoever read his work and saw his designs was free to add their own twist !! I think that is what this maker did !! American made Eastlake furniture was more in line with the Victorian mindset of the time  and was much less fussy !! They looked at simplifying furniture as is evident in the Craftsman style a bit later !! During this period it is not unusual to find a blending of some styles usually called "transition pieces" !!

[febis]

thanks for the info, appreciate your time. will keep poking around  to find more info. they are obviously old but suprisingly  unique.

[mart]

You might also check out Jacobean style for the side chair !! Both  styles were popular then but the lions head finial was most used with Empire furniture !! Still,, check both !!  Maybe Jacon4 will get on and give his opinion !!

[febis]

increadible to me is i have searched the internet for hours and haven't seen anything like them. French renaissance has some similarity. i havent seen anything like the bottoms of the dining chairs

[frogpatch]

If you look closely at the motif design on the side chair, like the row of turnings and the repeated squares on the top rail, these are typical of Eastlake influence. I think that Mart an I were correct on our first try. Turn of the century or late Victorian. I used the see parlor sets with those lion heads frequently and they were a hot item for the southern dealers in the late 1970s. They would drive up trailers to NJ and load them with anything oak, mahogany or walnut and carved. The more carving the better. They would take the load right to the auctions down there and turn a profit. I used to sell the stuff outdoors before the sun came up in Englishtown NJ back then. Yeah, I guess that makes me an old timer. 

[febis]

Thanks to both of you, may be the case here. I live and found this stuff in Jersey. I figured the were reproductions, but they are well built and cool looking. Just wish i could find an exact match. Thanks again

[mart]

Try looking at the UK sites !! I doubt if you can find matches but you may find similar chairs !! Most people don`t stop and think about why there is only one like the side chair !! Chances are it was once part of a set for a dining table !! English furniture styles have always been ahead of the U.S. and whatever was popular there arrived here later !! So many things in the Victorian era were being tossed when its popularity was strong here !! Later in the 1900`s it was just used furniture in the UK but being sold as antique here by many shops !! When the antique market was very strong here in the 70`s,,furniture was purchased for pennies there and shipped here for resale and some made quite a bit of money refurbishing and reselling these pieces !! There was no interest in keeping a set together so if someone wanted one chair,, they could get it !! As far as your side chair, they may have bought 4 or 6 on the same kind and due to the way they were handled, ( I have actual knowledge of this) they may have 2 or three that were not too damaged to sell !! So it was easy to purchase a single item !!
I used to buy from a dip strip shop in the next town and I have seen beautiful furniture literally in piles half way to the roof of their building !! I tried to get there when the trailer arrived but didn`t always manage it !!  That is why especially in the south there is an abundance of English furniture on the market !! Sorry for the length of this but thought it might help !! Yours may not be English but its worth checking !!

[febis]

thanks for the insite, i will look into English sites. regarding the side chair, i actually have 4 of them, it was a complete set but the table was in bad shape and the arm chairs were not there. The people who had it previously had them reupholstered under the 6 leg chair were 2 photos of it stripped. Well thank you very much, i think the history of these chairs.will have to find me. Lol

[mart]

Glad you have 4 of them !! Did you by any chance ask the previous owner where they got the chairs ?? Sometimes you get some insite there !! I would not call your chairs reproductions at all !! As I said before, if they are Eastlake style they would be quite original except for the refinishing !! Since he was mot a maker as such but only a designer,, whatever was made with his designs are considered original to that period !!

[KevinB]

I found another hexagon chair but the old ad doesn't say much. http://www.etsy.com/listing/46748413/beautiful-hexagon-chair

[febis]

Thanks hexagon chair, pretty cool. I great conversation pieces. Wonder if they have any value.