What does near pair mean?

It means the two chairs were not made together. Dealers use near pair, matched pair and close matched pair to say the chairs were brought together later, and a true pair to say they weren't. The distinction turns up in the titles rather than buried in the text, so it's part of what's being sold.

Which type turns up most often?

Armchairs. Of 7,236 titles on Sellingantiques, 3,040 contain the word, covering leather club chairs, wing chairs, tub chairs, bergères and salon chairs. Hall chairs and side chairs make the next largest group, mostly in mahogany or oak and mostly Victorian, Regency or Georgian.

Are French chairs common in this category?

Yes. Around 1,142 titles say french, against 271 saying swedish, so France is the main non-British source by a wide margin. The samples name fauteuils, Louis XV and XVI, Napoleon III, Empire, Second Empire, Directoire, Restauration and crapaud forms. Giltwood and carved walnut recur through them. Non-European pairs are the rarity: Chinese yoke-back and horseshoe chairs, Anglo-Indian bergères, Burmese, Moorish and Portuguese examples appear only a handful of times.

How old do these pairs get?

The dated field runs 1700 to 1960. The earliest entries are a pair of early oak hall chairs at 1700 and Queen Anne period dining chairs at 1710. Seventeenth-century pieces appear as backstools and Carolean side chairs, entered by reign rather than year. Most listings sit in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

What woods are named in the titles?

Wood is named in about half of all titles. Mahogany leads with 1,281, then walnut at 771 and oak at 690. After those come birch, elm and rosewood, with satinwood, yew, ash, pine, teak and pollard oak all recurring.

Do unusual forms come up?

Occasionally. In 800 samples, several forms appeared exactly once: Swiss Alpine Stabellen chairs, Scottish armorial clan chairs, Irish famine chairs, elephant-form Art Deco chairs, Syrian Damascus inlaid armchairs and wrought-iron Savonarola chairs. Folding fishing chairs and a pair of RAF Bomber Command armchairs were among them too.

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Antique Pair of Chairs

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Two chairs sold together, matched or near-matched, made to flank a hall doorway, sit either side of a fireplace, or survive as the pair left from a larger set.