What is a wingback armchair?

A wingback armchair is a seating form characterised by extended side panels attached to the backrest. These wings historically trapped heat from the hearth and protected the sitter from cold draughts. Such chairs appear across Georgian and Victorian periods, often supported on mahogany or walnut legs with brass castors.

How do I identify a Victorian armchair?

Victorian armchairs display heavier proportions and often utilise dark hardwoods like mahogany or oak. They frequently feature button-backed upholstery, velvet coverings, and turned wooden legs. Makers from this era also adopted earlier styles, producing pieces influenced by Queen Anne and Louis XV designs.

What are calico and hessian?

Calico and hessian are foundational textiles used in traditional upholstery builds. Hessian serves as a strong woven base to hold internal stuffing, while calico provides an intermediate fabric layer. Some listings offer chairs newly upholstered purely in calico, allowing buyers to apply their own decorative top fabric.

Where were these chairs used?

These seating forms served primarily in drawing rooms, libraries, and bedrooms of English country houses and French chateaux. Their deep seats and upholstered frames provided comfort near fireplaces and reading areas. Today, buyers place them in living rooms and studies to function as fireside or reading chairs.

How do I spot a Howard and Sons chair?

Howard and Sons chairs typically feature low-slung profiles, deep feather-filled cushions, and exposed turned walnut legs fitted with branded brass castors. Their frames exhibit robust joinery characteristic of late 19th-century London workshops. Similar pieces are often described in the Howard style by subsequent makers.