Turn of the Century Oak Chair

Question:

My friend sent me an email; "I am struggling with this chair...name, description, time period...I get close... Is it tiger oak? Does it have Triffied feet? Is it 1900's? Nothing in my books are taking me to it!"



Answer:

It's understandable why your books aren't taking you to it because there are a number of different things going on with this chair. First, the chair is splat-back also called fiddle back and typically this kind of chair top/back would be more squared cornered and would not typically have cabriole legs as seen. The feet fall into the "paw foot" with a pad on the bottom (Triffid feet have more finer lines and are somewhat squared). The wood appears to be a combination of tiger oak (which is accomplished by quarter-sawing wood), golden oak or even red oak (hard to tell because the chair has been refinished). The chair is a common - turn of the century style and falls into the "Design Reform" period up to 1930. I think the chair seat would have originally been wicker or leather - (you can tell from looking underneath the seat). Oak sells much better in the mid-west - here the chair might sell for $50.00.