Posted 3 years ago
skfrazier
(2 items)
Hi,
My parents have two of these chairs -- they were reupholstered some years ago, but I am trying to pin down the age and style. Are they Queen Anne? What era might they be from?
Is This a Queen Anne Chair? | ||
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Hi, skfrazier. :-)
I'm definitely not an expert, but the presence of casters on the front legs (if they are original to the chair) suggest that the chair is probably not older than 1876, because that's when furniture casters were patented:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US174794A/en
Unfortunately, the replacement of the upholstery obscures the 'archaeological' trail. The finish on the woodwork seems to be in remarkably good condition, unless that was redone when the chair was reupholstered.
Some tips for determining the age of furniture:
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/determine-the-age-of-antique-furniture-148746
The woodwork lacks one of the key elements usually (but not always present) in Queen Anne furniture, the shell motif:
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/queen-anne-style-furniture-148838
The chair probably would not look out of place in a room full of Queen Anne style furniture, but neither would it look out of place in a room full of Victorian style furniture.
Great tips, thank you!
skfrazier, You're welcome. :-)
Please understand that these chairs may not be antiques. Relatively modern furniture make similar styles to this day.
Ugh. Bad proofreading will be the death of me.
The sentence:
Relatively modern furniture make similar styles to this day.
Should read:
Relatively modern furniture makers make similar styles to this day.
Only someone who is very knowledgeable seeing it in person is qualified to tell the chairs age. And there are few people around who can judge a knowledgeable person's ability. I still drive by a furniture store who used to have catalogs of antique style furniture you could order from and I seen those catalogs. Also my chairs the oldest with a date on it is 1950. So many queen anne chairs were reproduced in especially the 40's to 70's periods that a recovered chair is as suspect as any.
skfrazier, What PhilDMorris says is true.
My own family had a set of Victorian style parlor furniture, purchased in the 1970s. We knew going into the purchase that these were brand new pieces, so all was good.
Unless you know for a fact that your parents purchased these chairs from a reputable antique dealer, or you have some documentation of their provenance, it's quite likely that they aren't antiques.
They're beautiful chairs, no matter the age. :-)