$7,600Sale Price / set|40% Off
Pair of Upholstered Hepplewhite Shield-Back Armchairs w Provenance, circa 1870s
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The upholstered back and arms provide additional comfort from the traditional open back style of standard Hepplewhite chairs.
Fabric, Wood
19th century Desk Chair, England 1837-40
Located in Leimen, DE
Round Shape and Open Back Design: The chair features a unique round shape and an open back design, ensuring comfort and style.
Walnut
"Parrot Chair" - Still-Life Painting by Jennett Lam
Located in New York, NY
The title may allude to an optical color effect made by the chair's open-back woodwork and the wall behind, which gives a beautiful symmetry of two bird-like silhouettes.
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Christian Liaigre “Archipel” Style Dining Chairs for Holly Hunt, Pair
By Christian Liaigre, HOLLY HUNT
Located in San Diego, CA
The squared open-back design gives the chairs a sculptural presence while maintaining a minimalist modern profile suitable for contemporary, transitional, or refined postmodern inter...
Wood, Upholstery
English Georgian Mahogany Arm Chair, Leather Upholstery, 20th Century
Located in Queens, NY
English Georgian style (20th Cent) mahogany open arm chair with shaped back and upholstered in a leather style blue/grey.
Mahogany, Leather
Ming Dynasty Style Wedding Chair with Carved Medallion and Curving Arms
Located in Yonkers, NY
The chair’s open back is elegantly adorned with a curving splat, featuring a central medallion carved in low relief, symbolizing harmony and unity—an apt motif for a piece originally...
Wood
Pair of Biedermeier Satin Birch Armchairs, Sweden, 1910s
Located in Rīga, LV
Pair of Biedermeier style armchairs in satin birch with brown upholstered seats. The chairs feature open backs, curved armrests, saber front legs, and a warm patterned wood grain.
Wood, Birch
20th Century Edwardian Corner Armchair With Striped Seat
Located in Lisbon, PT
An Edwardian corner armchair from circa 1905, featuring a finely inlaid bentwood frame and upholstered striped seat. The chair’s curved open back and elegant silhouette reflect the ...
Wood
Mid 19th Century A Near Pair of Empire Style Fauteuils With Carved Arm Detail
Located in Charlottesville, VA
Handsome near pair of Empire style open-arm chairs with square backs and fluted, carved arm supports.
Upholstery, Wood
Antique Exceptional Pair Italian Neoclassical Armchairs Early 20th Century
Located in London, GB
This is a fantastic and highly decorative antique pair of Italian Neo-Classical mahogany and giltwood fauteuil armchairs, circa 1900 in date. The chairs feature open back splats fea...
Mahogany
19th Century French Louis XVI Mahogany Armchair with Cane Seat
Located in Queens, NY
French Louis XVI style (19th Cent) mahogany square back open arm chair with bronze trim and cane seat & back with a stretcher.
Bronze
$7,889 / item
Customizable Artifort Muse Sofa by Monica Förster
By Monica Förster, Artifort
Located in New York, NY
With its classic steel inner frame with Nosag springs and moulded foam, this sofa family is perfectly suited to Artifort’s world-famous signature sleek upholstery. The long, open bac...
Upholstery
Customizable Artifort Muse Sofa & footstool by Monica Förster
By Monica Förster, Artifort
Located in New York, NY
With its classic steel inner frame with Nosag springs and moulded foam, this sofa family is perfectly suited to Artifort’s world-famous signature sleek upholstery. The long, open bac...
Upholstery
Chippendale Style Mahogany Loveseat with Striped Upholstery
Located in Queens, NY
English Chippendale style (late 19th Century) mahogany loveseat with open carved double chair back having beige and blue striped upholstered seat supported on cabriole legs with ball...
Upholstery, Mahogany
Early 20th Century Regency Style Bamboo Armchair with Upholstered Seat
Located in Queens, NY
Regency Style bamboo open arm chair with high back design and upholstered seat and back panel (19/20th Cent.)
Bamboo
18th Century English George III Period Mahogany Armchair with Modern Fabric
Located in Chicago, IL
Splats are the center support for a chair’s open back and originated from the importation of Chinese Ming Dynasty chairs.
Mahogany
French Art Nouveau Walnut Side Chair with Pink Velvet Seat, Circa 1900
Located in Queens, NY
French Art Nouveau walnut open back side chair with carved floral design and pink velvet seat.
Velvet, Walnut
With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.
Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.
Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.
The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.
Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.
With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.
Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.
No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.
Modern icons are showing up in gracefully layered dining nooks, living rooms and lounges — proof that great design only gets better with context.
Andrianna Shamaris has filled her epic new home with pieces of her own design.
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With its plush cushions, cane details and dazzlingly colorful back, it’s inviting from every angle.
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
The plush Cove Slipper 2.5 Seater sofa is just one of many convenient combinations from the London-based maker.
Sam Klemick's cool stool is edgy, cozy and environmentally sustainable all at once.
From his massive collaborative workshop in a former paper factory, the designer concocts funky furniture from disused materials, as well as luxe hotel interiors like the new Mix Brussels.