What wood are shield back chairs usually made from?

Mahogany, in over half of the titles on Sellingantiques. Oak comes a distant second, at a fraction of that. Everything else is occasional. Satinwood, walnut, elm, fruitwood and birch each turn up only once or twice across the whole archive.

Why do so many listings say Hepplewhite?

Hepplewhite is used in titles as the name of the shield-back pattern itself, and roughly a quarter of listings carry it. It covers both period English chairs and later ones made to the same design. Where a title adds "style" or "revival", it is signalling the later work. Around eleven titles use revival outright.

How large do the dining sets get?

Sixes and eights are routine. Tens and twelves recur through the archive, and a single set of sixteen sits alone at the top. Smaller groupings are common too: fours, sevens and pairs all appear, along with plenty of single chairs.

Are shield back chairs always English?

No. A distinct French strain is catalogued as Napoleon III, fourteen titles in all, covering upholstered shield-back armchairs, more than half of them described as buttoned. Two titles reach further still, describing Federal revival shield backs. One of those is the sixteen-chair set.

What is the difference between a hall chair and a dining chair here?

Hall chairs have hard seats and were made for halls and passages. They come in pairs, and mahogany hall chairs are the commonest version. Dining chairs sell in sets, often with carvers included. Hall chairs account for about a quarter of titles and are rising in current stock.

How reliable are the dates on these listings?

Treat them as approximate. Only 78 of 206 listings carry a clean year; the rest fall back on "19th Century", Victorian or Georgian, all of which are brackets. Some samples dated "18th Century" describe Regency or 1840 chairs, and one titled circa 1790 carries 1750. A year in the title is the firmer signal.

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Antique Shield Back Chairs

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A chair with its back framed as a curved, tapering shield around a central splat, made in England from the late eighteenth century for dining rooms and halls, and revived for both ever since.