How many side chairs are listed each year?

Around 279 side chairs and sets appear on Sellingantiques in a year, and 311 different dealers have handled them. That is one of the widest dealer spreads in any category on the site. Because so many dealers stock them, the mix stays broad rather than settling into one look or one price band.

What set sizes turn up?

Fours and sixes are the ordinary units, with eights close behind. Six appears in 171 titles, four in 142 and eight in 82. Above that, the archive has produced tens, twelves, fourteens, fifteens and sixteens, and at the very top a matching suite of forty-two giltwood chairs. Singles and pairs are just as much part of the category, and 950 titles say "pair".

Are these all English?

English chairs dominate, and Scotland is unusually well represented for a region, with Edinburgh-attributed chairs, Northern Isles joined chairs and Scottish hall chairs recurring. Beyond that the origins wander. Dutch and Italian marquetry and walnut, Portuguese rosewood, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss Alpine escabelles, Tyrolean folk chairs, Chinese Qing hardwood, Burmese padouk and Anglo-Indian teak all appear, most only once or twice.

What dates do dealers give?

The dated field runs from 1700 to 1960, with 907 listings carrying a clean year. Much of the dating is broad: 19th Century accounts for 522 entries and 18th Century for 220. Reign labels are applied loosely alongside decade buckets. The samples include a chair called Victorian with c.1840 in the title, and a George III mahogany hall chair also given as c.1840.

Which timbers are most common?

Mahogany leads with 791 titles, then walnut at 351, oak at 328 and rosewood at 169. Mahogany and dining appear together in 238 titles. Country chairs bring in elm and ash, and simulated finishes turn up too, most often paint imitating rosewood or bamboo on Regency chairs.

Do unusual one-off chairs come up?

They do. Metamorphic library steps that convert to a side chair, a Black Forest carved bear hall chair, a pair of solid brass chairs and a papier mâché chair inlaid with mother of pearl have each surfaced once. Welsh and Scottish spinning chairs are in the same bracket. The earliest things recorded are a set of farthingale chairs given as c.1640-60 and a Carolean caned walnut pair of c.1670-90.

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Antique Side Chairs

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A side chair is a single seat without arms, made to stand back against a wall and be brought forward for dining, writing or sitting in a hall or bedroom.