Are all wing chairs meant to have loose cushions?

Most eighteenth-century frames were built to hold a loose squab cushion on top of a firm base deck. Occasionally you find early examples designed for a fixed tight seat, but a loose cushion is standard for the period.

How heavy should an oak frame be?

Oak is a dense timber. A well-built provincial chair takes two people to lift comfortably. Beech frames are lighter but still heavy.

I have seen some chairs with a flat top edge across the back while others are heavily curved and carved, is one style earlier?

A flat crest rail often points to a slightly later date, becoming popular as styles shifted toward the end of the eighteenth century. You see this straight-line geometry in Hepplewhite and Sheraton designs. Earlier chairs from the Queen Anne or Chippendale periods tend to feature swept, serpentine, or camel-back profiles. Craftsmen during those decades favoured sweeping curves across the crest and wings.

The exposed wooden legs on the ones I look at seem to have different sorts of feet, do they match specific wood types?

Foot styles connect more closely to the decade of production than the specific timber. Early eighteenth-century walnut chairs frequently stand on pad or club feet. By the middle of the century, mahogany became the dominant choice for exposed timber. Craftsmen carved this denser wood into ball-and-claw feet with sharper detailing. Tapered square legs usually follow later, showing up in mahogany or painted beech frames.

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Antique Wing Chairs from the 19th Century

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An upholstered easy chair featuring side pieces projecting from the back down to the armrests, designed originally to catch the heat of an open fire and block cold draughts.