What wood are settles usually made from?

Oak is the default. It appears in half of all titles on Sellingantiques, generally with panelled backs and box or squab seats. The rest run to pine, mahogany, walnut, fruitwood, cherry, birch, rosewood and bleached oak. Pine turns up on country and painted examples, mahogany on the upholstered hall settles.

How old are most antique settles?

Georgian and 18th century are the two commonest labels, and they describe much the same group of pieces seen two ways. Nineteenth century is the next block, with 1880s, 1890s, 1870s and 1800s the only decade-level detail. Seventeenth-century dating is the rarest, on five listings. The 1900s account for a further group, and a single piece is dated 1950.

Why are settles also called benches or hall seats?

The terminology is fluid across the category. Bench appears in around a fifth of titles, sofa and hall in roughly a tenth each, and window seat and couch turn up as well. Sometimes three of those words appear in one listing for the same object. Hall seat tends to mean a shorter, more decorative settle made for an entrance.

Do settles have storage under the seat?

Many do. The box seat, with a hinged or lift-out lid over a compartment, is one of the recurring descriptors in oak and pine examples alike. Others have a plain fixed seat, sometimes with a squab cushion laid on top.

Are Continental settles common on Sellingantiques?

They arrive in ones and twos. Swedish examples are the largest of the overseas groups, including Gustavian and Empire pieces, usually painted. French, Austrian, Bavarian, Italian and Provencal settles all appear, along with Chinese export pieces, one of them inlaid with mother of pearl. The top of the sampled range is held by a carved Italian pine example.

How many settles come up for sale?

Only about ten a year come to market on Sellingantiques, so the category moves slowly. Even so, 56 different dealers have listed one. It's a form almost everybody handles occasionally and nobody stocks in depth.

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Antique Settles

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A settle is a long wooden seat with a back, built as joinery for two or more people, made to keep the draught off beside a hearth or in an entrance passage.