Jeckyll & Co has dated this piece to the Victorian era.
The distinctive carved foliate top-rails are a well-documented decorative device used by Godwin. Related examples are illustrated in Susan Soro's 'The Secular Furniture on E.W. Godwin'.
They are lower-slung too, at 85cm in height they are 10cm lower and 5cm deeper than the oak side chair dated 1880. While the secondary timber is mahogany rather than deal, (which was used in Godwin's earliest ebonised furniture), the upright stiles are simply chanel-mounded, without the additional adornment of finials. In this respect they chair more in common with the settee illustrated on plate 111 of the aforementioned book and dated to around 1867.
The chairs are stucturally sound with the original finish, and have some bumps and dents throughout, particularly concentrated around the legs and uprights. The back legs on one chair have had bracket supports but this has been removed and the traditional corner brackets restored.
One chair bears a brass label on the underside for 'The Eagle Upholstery Company, 6 Gloucester Terrace S.W and The Grove, Hammersmith. The label looks to date to the early 20th century, so presumably this is where the chairs were first recovered.
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Jeckyll & Co has dated this piece to the Victorian era.
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A Pair of Side Chairs Attributed to E.w Godwin, London Late 1860s
