Fox, I think what you have is 1930s Jacobean revival. What makes me think this is the style of the carving on the back, but some other elements look older than that. It looks to be a high-quality chair.

Kathryn, Chair looks great, lie that fabric on it! Enjoy!

This was inside my chairs

@chibimimi These are the chairs and they were filled with straw...and they stink really badly like I can even describe the awful smell :(

Fox....that's the trouble with Craig's list....no provenance!
It looks to me like your chair is english Jacobean Revival....much earlier than 1930's....and much finer.

Jckac, if the chairs smelled so bad why did you even bring them into your house?
I think the upholstery is atypical to the style. perhaps they are 1890's?
and a chair won't give you allergies, you either have them or you don't. Tear off the fabric and stuffing and throw it away.

Than you Linda and chibimimi for your help. I greatly appreciate it.

I was given a chair by my elderly neighbor who was throwing it away, I don't know anything about old furniture but thought it was too nice to throw away. I am posting some photos so any information would be appreciated. My neighbor is 94 and he has had this for years. That's all I know.

What a find! It looks to be an early Victorian chair -- I think it's mahogany. I am so glad you saved it from being thrown out.

I'll take it if you don't want it.

Hi there, I originally posted this on the site but I found this whole thread of lovely chair enthusiasts and experts and decided to post here instead. I was given this chair, and thought "great I will just paint/distress and cover in funky colours". And then I started pulling it apart. It's been covered five times, the earliest fabric is some sort of velveteen (?) but there are more holes under that so perhaps this isn't the original cover? It has carvings all over it, and was painted just before the last cover (evidence on fabric). There is also evidence of gold paint but I can't determine when it was applied or to what specific areas. The timber is quite dark. It is stuffed with wood-wool and some sort of black/grey stuffing, but I haven't exposed the seat properly yet. Whoever owned it used it a LOT, every covering is worn out, but I have no way of finding out the story. There are tacks on top of tacks on top of tacks. Four hours saw me expose about 15" of wood, so it's slow going. Has anyone ever seen anything like this or have any thoughts?

Early- to mid-Victorian, with aesthetic-style incised carving, in a style that I usually associate with walnut, although it could be some other wood. It will be well worth the effort to strip, refinish, and reupholster it!

Have a dining set I purchased with intent to refinish. Now I'm considering painting it instead, but don't want to if it's actually a decent antique. I'm posting chair pics hoping for info on its age.

It's a decent antique....
From what I see of that chair, no need to refinish......just clean it up and re-cover the chairs.
I don't understand why people want to paint old furniture....makes it look like something you dug out of the attic and re-purposed.
One of the things that distinguishes a gracious home from one decorated in "early attic" is the presence of items, in as "as used" condition, from an earlier era....not repainted with the handles "up-dated" but the piece as was originally used....even if you bought it at an auction.

I got this beauty from an auction, wondering about age and type of wood. Thank you

Jennifer, your picture didn't post. Could you try again?

Stumbled upon this page and love it! Can anyone give me any insight into this rocker Impicked up at the thrift store, I have sanded and restrained it and wanted to reupholster, I started picking at it and it appearance be stuffed with straw, not excelsior but real straw (I have horses so I know my straw !)..there are no wooden slats or anything in across the bottom of the seat..just cloth top and bottom and straw in the middle and also straw stuffing on the back. From what I have read it is probably pre 1950 and I think this is called a Mission style rocker? Ideas anyone ? It has obviously already been reupholstered at least once and the fabric was stapled on, no original tacks that I can find. Here's the before and after..my first attempt at sanding and staining..hmmm...pictures don't seem to be attaching ?

Start a new thread.....this one has too many entrys as it is....don't add more.

Amazing use of multi layered materials. Is this chair old?

Yes, old! Dates from at least 1870...likely earlier.

The layers may indicate that the upholstery padding was packing down so they floofed it up with a fresh layer when a new seat cover went on.

The layers are fairly typical for the time....excelsior or straw for firmness, then horsehair for some spring, but that stuff would poke through a fine fabric, so it was topped with cotton batting. The batting dates from the last time it was re-done as that fabric is not original.

The chair has a plastic type cover under this fabric. The filling was straw type material and a thin pad.

Can anyone help me with the age and correct style of this chair?

Can anyone help me with the approximate age and correct style of this chair?

Can anybody help with an approximate age and style on this piece? Looks like Brass tacts and also stuffed with hay???

I have this sleeper sofa and wanted to see if anyone could tell me as to when it was made, it is stuffed with cornhusk and horsehair, not sure what the original material covering it was. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I'm having the same issue as the original post. Didn't want to attempt anything until I knew what I was working with. HELP!!

It's a nice old late Victorian "patent rocker" or "spring rocker" or "self rocker">
This thread is way too long...I don't know what the original poster asked and I am not going to scroll back 145 replies to find out and scroll down to answer....i suggest you start a new thread!

I COMPLETELY AGREE. I'll do that now.

Thanks lindac92

Looking to refurbish and the age of these chairs, any thought? My first time at this. Just was fascinated by how this was made and still so sturdy.

Victorian balloon back chair...likely mahogany....very nice!

Have any idea of time period made?

Thrift find. I'm interested to find out what the stuffing in this chair was. I'm assuming coconut fiber or excelsior, but it was full of this orange powder. Has the fiber broken down into the powder or is the powder something else. It's a bright coppery color and very heavy. Almost like sand. & yes, those are cigarette butts in the fiber:) It's a very heavy chair, I think Walnut, & marked XIII on all the pieces. It's missing one side of the decorative insert so I'll remove the other side. I'm thinking about 1960s ish? Thanks

looks like coir to me.

Casey

Happy to have stumbled upon this thread. I bought this chair at a thrift store and have been wondering how old it is. It seems to be stuffed with horse hair... has Aubusson tapestry back with a velvet seat and arms. We recently moved and it is currently in storage. These are the only photos I have with me, but can get more if it would be helpful. Thank you so much. Karen

My Turn! Lol. I found this chair at the thrift store. I expected to paint it for my Halloween project. After staring at it for days, I feel like I better reaearch what it is before I ruin it. Does anyone have an idea of the age of this piece?

I would love to get some information on this chair that I found. The seat was a wooden frame held together with wooden pegs, covered in muslin the. Layers of excelsior and cotton batting. )When I first found the excelsior, I though a mouse had nested in the chair! The frame is broken, so my plan is to put a wooden bottom in the chair and a new cushion. In the future I could repair the frame. The rest of the chair is in excellent condition. I’ll just clean up the wood. Any information on age, style, history of my chair would be so appreciated! I really live the look of it!

*love

Looks almost like a chair in "Antique Trader" price book, chair is called Missionstyle (Arts & Crafts movement) book is from 2010 & price listed was $570. That is a very nice chair & I would fix it properly. Not saying your chair is worth that much, you need to clean it up, see if it's oak. Go to library & look in Antique furniture book to see what seat looked like. AS to age I'm sure someone can help on that but I sat on 1 similar to that in my granpa's ins. office 70 yrs ago, seat was dark brown leather, I felt very important , suppose that is why I remember it so well.& I think it had been there a long time. book mentions 1 from 1900 as Mission. The piece under the arms that curves out I haven't seen before. Will be very nice chair when cleaned up!

It is a nice Arts & Crafts armchair made with through tenons on the arms, they are not pegs. C1910.

This chair looks like it might be in the Victorian ages. I found a chair the same type with the hay inside. Did some research at leat up to 300.00 to $500.00 value based on ebay listings .

Can anyone tell me anything about this chair? Thank you for your time.

Please start a new thread asking your question & include a picture.

What?

It's an organ stool, does the twist mechanism still work?