What is a nursing chair?

A low single chair, usually armless or with very short arms, made for bedroom and parlour use. The low seat suited a seated adult nursing an infant or dressing. They were made from the early 19th century and produced in large numbers by the Victorian period as part of general bedroom and salon furnishing.

Is a bedroom chair the same thing?

On Sellingantiques the two names are all but interchangeable. Bedroom chair appears in 55 titles for the same low upholstered form. Ladies' chair, slipper, spoon-back, salon, occasional and fireside cover much the same ground. The heading gathers a family of small upholstered chairs rather than one fixed pattern.

Which woods were used?

Walnut leads at 138 titles, mahogany follows at 78, rosewood at 34. Oak turns up nine times and there is a single pine example. Ebonised frames account for 16 titles, usually the Aesthetic Movement ones.

How common are pairs?

Pairs run to 35 titles, so they are a regular but not a dominant part of the category. Ladies' and gentleman's pairs and matched salon chairs are the usual arrangement. They sit at the top of the range more often than singles do.

When were most of these chairs made?

The centre of gravity is the mid-Victorian bedroom. Where dealers give a decade, the 1860s lead, then the 1850s, 1870s and 1880s. Most listings carry no exact year at all, filed instead as Victorian or 19th Century. Edwardian examples form a later tail, and the dated fields as a whole run from 1830 to 1940.

What does button back mean on these chairs?

It describes upholstery drawn into a grid of buttons across the back. The word button appears in 53 titles and button back in 44. After the timber, it is the single most-named feature in the category.