Antique Chairs

Cromwellian and Back Chairs

An interesting feature of these chairs is that almost without exception they are decorated with carving representing either a Tudor rose or a crown supported by two infants, suggesting the restoration of the crown.

At first there was a development of the Cromwellian chair, with turned work, a square frame, and upholstery in leather or "Turkey work." This latter was an imported Oriental fabric, woven after the manner of some Turkish rugs, and popular for upholstery at this time and later.

The real innovation of the period was the carved chair with cane seat and back. There were two types, both of which are graceful and excellent in modern halls where a chair chiefly decorative is de-sired. These two types have been called Flemish and Spanish, because of certain imported details.

The Flemish Stuart chair has a high, narrow back, the center of which is of cane in a splat effect, with spaces between it and the turned uprights at the sides. More or less elaborate carving-frequently scrollwork-appears at the top and on the broad underbrace. The seat is cane, woven much like our modern cane seats. This chair nearly always had S-shaped legs with scroll feet, usually turning outward-a Flemish feature. There are some variations of this chair, the work of English designers, and on some of the later ones upholstery is used. Walnut, maple, beech, and oak were the woods employed in both the Flemish and the Spanish types.

In the Spanish Stuart chair we find the Spanish foot-broad, turning slightly outward, and usually fluted. The legs are turned and the underbrace carved. The back is tall and narrow, but solid, with no splat effect. The backs and seats are sometimes of tooled Spanish leather-seldom Turkey work-though in the English adaptations cane was more often used. These chairs are rare and valuable, and many of them are beautiful.

In the reigns of William and Mary, and William III (1689-1702), these chairs underwent various changes. The splat effect was dropped almost entirely, upholstery became more common, and Dutch features became evident. Gradually the Dutch element came to predominate until the cabriole-leg days of Queen Anne (1702-1714), when the Flemish and Spanish features practically disappeared.

Four types of chairs were developed in Queen Anne's time : the slat-back and banister-back chairs of the cottages, the roundabout, the Dutch bandy-leg chair of the better homes, and the universal Windsor. The first was less distinctly an innovation than the others, being a development of earlier, simple, home-made types. Some of them are ugly and uncomfortable, but for the most part they are very quaint and picturesque, and, though hardly suited to our modern rooms, they are excellent for porches where the rest of the furnishings are reasonably in keeping.

The slat-backs had turned uprights, legs, under-braces, and frequently arms. Across the backs were three, four, or five horizontal slats, usually slightly curved.

The banister-back had also turned legs and up-rights and sometimes arms. The backs were high and straight, occasionally with carving-a Stuart survival-but usually without. In place of the horizontal slats there were upright spindles, usually four in number, and generally flat, though some-times rounded on the back.

Both of these types had rush seats and were of soft or hard wood, usually painted black. Similar chairs were made in New England, both then and later, which are not uncommon to-day, but the genuine English Queen Anne chairs are much rarer. It is often difficult, however, to tell the difference. They are frequently found with rockers, but these were undoubtedly a later addition.