What's the difference between a slipper and nursing chair?

In these listings, very little. The same low armless upholstered chair is sold under both names, and bedroom chair and ladies chair are used for it too. Some titles hedge their bets and run two names together, as in Victorian walnut slipper or nursing chair.

Which woods are used for the frames?

Walnut appears in more titles than any other timber, with mahogany and rosewood following. The frame is show wood, polished and left visible around the upholstery. A smaller group is ebonised, stained and polished black, and some frames are gilt.

How old are most of them?

The dated field runs from 1800 to 1940, but the bulk sit in the 19th century. Victorian is the single commonest label, and 19th Century the commonest date entry. Where a decade is named, the 1860s comes up more than any other. Regency examples appear in modest numbers, and the twentieth century is thin, with a few 1920s, Edwardian and Art Deco entries.

Why do so many listings come in pairs?

Pairs account for around one title in six, alongside matched pairs, near pairs and his and hers descriptions. The low chairs were often supplied more than one at a time. Pairs drive the extremes of the range. Every listing at the very top is a pair of Howard and Sons slipper or bedroom chairs.

What does an iron-back chair mean?

It's a frame with an iron back member carrying the upholstery rather than a timber one. The wording recurs across several titles as iron back slipper chair, iron-back nursing chair and iron-back buttoned armchair, all dated to the middle of the 19th century.

Are French examples common in this category?

They form a small group, under a tenth of the listings. Napoleon III chairs appear several times, along with boudoir chairs reaching into the 1930s. Scroll backs are frequent on the French pieces. One Anglo-Indian and one chinoiserie chair also turn up.

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Antique Slipper Chairs

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A low-seated, armless upholstered chair with the seat close to the floor, made for the bedroom and dressing room and sold just as often as a nursing chair for sitting low with a child.