Skip to main content

Seating

to
29
2
30
1
Height
to
Width
to
Depth
to
23
26
22
23
22
26
22
24
22
23
22
24
13
6
4
3
1
1
17
11
2
1
1
1
1
1
27
16
7
6
5
28
27
7
31
31
31
65
10
1,440
1,176
1,117
Seating For Sale
Creator: Jonathan Sainsbury
Creator: Thomas Chippendale
Regency Oak Leaf Stool
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A finely carved and reeded mahogany stool, with a central panel of oak leaves and quatrefoil corner paterae, on brass castors. To be upholstered in ...
Category

19th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Brass

Six Imporatant George III 1760 Thomas Chippendale Chinese Pagoda Dining Chairs
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
We are delighted to offer this important suite of museum quality, George III circa 1760-1765, Thomas Chippendale Chinese Pagoda top dining chairs with the original embroidered seat pads Where to begin, if you’re looking at this listing then the chances are you know exactly how significant this suite is. Thomas Chippendale was simply put, the most important furniture designer in history. A similar suite of twelve chairs with one reproduction that were attributed to Chippendale...
Category

1760s English George III Antique Seating

Materials

Hardwood

Robert Adam Window Seat
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine carved giltwood window seat after a design by Robert Adam. Upholstered in client’s own material. Bespoke sizing, design adaptations and finishing available. We are curr...
Category

18th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Giltwood

George II Giltwood Banquet Chair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine George II gilt-wood banquet chair with a classical rake to the back on acanthus and shell carved legs terminating in a carved hairy paw claw foot...
Category

18th Century British Neoclassical Antique Seating

Materials

Giltwood

Tatham Library Chair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
An important carved mahogany library armchair of large proportions inspired by Charles Heathcote Tatham’s designs from the Grand Tour. To be upholstered in the clients own material. ...
Category

Early 19th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

Plitman Banquet Chair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
The Plitman banquet chair is a mahogany dining chair hand carved in the Chippendale style and upholstered with client’s own fabric. Bespoke sizing, d...
Category

16th Century British Neoclassical Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

A pair of English 18th century Chippendale period George III armchairs. rare
Located in Central England, GB
A most attractive and rare pair of high quality carved mahogany Chippendale period George III armchairs beautifully hand made with some fine and crisp details. This handsome pair of...
Category

18th Century English Chippendale Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

Hepplewhite Sofa
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine Hepplewhite design parcel gilded sofa with arched shaped serpentine crest rail, straight front rail and fine tapered and fluted legs. This sofa is classically upholstered and although appearing formal in design, is extremely comfortable, with secret hidden...
Category

Late 18th Century British Neoclassical Antique Seating

Materials

Serpentine

Tennyson Sofa
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
The Tennyson sofa is a fine country house Chesterfield design of generous proportions. The upholstered body of the sofa terminates upon finely turned polished mahogany bun feet with ...
Category

19th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

Dinton Sofa
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
The Dinton sofa is a fine polished mahogany regency design sofa/settee with classically polished turned and tapering legs terminating in brass castors, below a polished frieze with i...
Category

19th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Brass

Camel Back Garden Bench
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
An exceptional Georgian Camel back design carved teak slatted back garden bench. Exterior seat pads can be supplied if required. Seat pad upholstered in cli...
Category

18th Century British Neoclassical Antique Seating

Materials

Teak

Pair Of Carved Mahogany Armchairs By Thomas Chippendale
Located in New Orleans, LA
This set of two carved mahogany chairs was crafted by the inimitable and famed Thomas Chippendale. The yellow upholstered seats complement the deep mahogany beautifully, creating an ...
Category

18th Century English Chippendale Antique Seating

Materials

Upholstery, Mahogany

Six Hand Dyed Brown Leather Thomas Chippendale Chesterfield Tub Club Armchairs
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
Royal House Antiques Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this lovely suite of six, fully restored hand, dyed cigar leather English tub or club armchairs with Thomas Chippendale style floating button Chesterfield seat...
Category

1920s English Chesterfield Vintage Seating

Materials

Leather, Oak

FOUR ANTIQUE COLONIAL THOMAS CHIPPENDALE HARDWOOD FRET WORK CARVED DiNING CHAIRS
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
Royal House Antiques We are delighted to offer this important suite of museum quality, antique Colonial Rosewood Thomas Chippendale, fret work carved dining chairs Please note the delivery fee listed is just a guide and covers London only for the UK and local Europe for the rest of the world, if you are outside of this area please send me your address and I will provide you with an accurate quote Where to begin, if you’re looking at this listing then the chances are you know exactly how significant this suite is, Thomas Chippendale was simply put, the most important furniture designer in history, these chairs are the only Colonial examples I have ever seen and in Rosewood no less, they weigh roughly three times more than a standard dining chair of the same style and size, they are very substantial The chairs are late 19th century circa 1880-1900, they are of course based on the original 18th century examples, the carving is exquisitely executed and the chairs look sophisticated and elegant from all angles The suite has been sympathetically restored to include a deep clean, hand condition wax and hand polish, the seat covers have been left as they are, they are ok, I can have them reupholstered for the cost price to anything the new owners wish Literature Two chairs illustrated in Tabellenbuch Holztechnik, Hamburg, 2013, p. 271. Exhibited Ten chairs on loan to Birmingham Museums circa 1985-2010 and exhibited at Aston Hall, Birmingham, where photographed in situ.. Dimensions Height:- 93cm Width:- 56cm Depth:- 53cm Seat height:- 47cm Please note all measurements are taken at the widest point. Lot Essay These chairs are closely related to those in two recognised Chippendale commissions: Sir Gilbert Heathcote (d. 1785), 3rd Baronet for Normanton Hall, Rutland and William Crichton-Dalrymple, 5th Earl of Dumfries (4th Earl of Stair, 1699-1768) for Dumfries House, Ayrshire. THE RELATED CHAIRS The chairs are of identical decoration to the set of two armchairs and ten single chairs, circa 1765, formerly at Normanton Hall (1). In 1759, Sir Gilbert Heathcote (d. 1785), 3rd Baronet, succeeded to the vast inheritance established by his grandfather, also Gilbert, 1st Baronet (1652-1733), who was reputed to be ‘the richest commoner in England’ (2). The 3rd Baronet employed both Chippendale Senior and his son, Chippendale Junior, in the furnishing of his Palladian mansion, Normanton Hall in Rutland, and his London houses, 29 Grosvenor Square, London and Browne's House at North End, Fulham. Surviving Chippendale accounts, although incomplete, show that the firm was working periodically for members of the Heathcote family from 1768 to 1821. Most of the furniture listed in these accounts was intended for Browne’s House, although after 1798 when the family relinquished this residence some of the furniture was moved to Normanton Hall. The latter was sold in 1924, and any furniture not included in the Normanton Hall sale was taken to the Earl of Ancaster’s seat at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire. Chippendale’s earliest invoice for Sir Gilbert Heathcote records the acquisition in 1768 of ‘6 India Back and arm chairs Japand to imitate the Bamboe’, signifying how the family embraced the highly fashionable chinoiserie taste. Although the Normanton chairs cannot be conclusively identified in the extant Chippendale accounts, their form and ornamentation led Christopher Gilbert to suggest that they were possibly by Chippendale (3). The set of four mahogany chairs at Dumfries House have nearly-identical pagoda-form cresting rails and identical terminals but differ in the arrangement of the 'Chinese' paling in the backs and side panels. Although no documentary evidence for the Dumfries chairs survives, in their execution and sophisticated carving of the toprails, they are extremely close to Chippendale’s hand. Another near-set of closely related chairs is at Saltram House, Devon, where Chippendale worked between 1771-2; these dates are based on payments in John Parker's cash account book, and probably do not reflect a true picture of the entire commission as Parker often paid tradesmen by banker's draft (4). Comprising two armchairs and seven single chairs, this set, circa 1765, is made of padouk, and has been described by the National Trust as ‘Chinese Export’ (5). The set was returned to Saltram in 1951 having been accepted by H.M. Treasury in lieu of full payment of Death Duty from the Executors of Edmund Robert Parker, 4th Earl of Morley (1877-1951). Some of the chairs are currently on display in ‘The Chinese Chippendale Bedroom’. A further set of four padouk chairs of the Saltram pattern was almost certainly at Kenwood House, London; some of these are recorded in 18th century inventories drawn up by Lord Mansfield. This set was removed to Scone Palace, Perth, prior to the auction at Kenwood in 1922, and subsequently sold from ‘Scone Palace and Blairquhan: The Selected Contents of Two Great Scottish Houses’, Christie’s, London, 24 May 2007, lot 298. Another pair of padouk chairs of this model sold ‘The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller’, Christie’s, New York, 10 May 2018, lot 647 ($193,750 inc. premium). THE DESIGN Conceived in the Chinese manner expounded by William and John Halfpenny in Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste (1752), and Sir William Chambers in his Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, Machines and Utensils (1757), the pattern for this set of ‘Pagoda’ chairs relates to nine designs for ‘Chinese Chairs’ in the 1st edition of Chippendale’s Director (1754); the cabinet-maker describes these designs thus: Plates XXIII, XXIV and XXV are nine Chairs in the present Chinese manner, which I hope will improve that taste, or manner of work; it having yet never arrived to any perfection; doubtless it might be lost without feeling its beauty: as it admits of the greatest variety, I think it the most useful of any other. The sizes are all specified on the designs. The three last (No. XXV.) I hope will be well received, as there has been none like them yet made. The Georgian period witnessed the proliferation of such railed and pagoda-crested chairs in both the ‘picturesque’ Chinese tea pavilions of landscaped parks as well as in fashionable apartments hung with ‘India’ paper. The geometric ‘Chinese’ feet of these chairs are also found on a set of pedestals...
Category

1880s English Victorian Antique Seating

Materials

Hardwood

Johnathan Sainsbury Set of 8 Egyptian Style Dining Chairs
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Highly decorative Egyptian Klismos design copied by Robsjohn Gibbings in the sixties now recreated by Johnathan Sainsbury of London. This set was fabricated in 2020 with woven leathe...
Category

2010s English Mid-Century Modern Seating

Materials

Leather, Wood

Adam Armchair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine and important George III design attributed to Robert Adam, circa 1775. The Adam Armchair is carved gilt-wood and upholstered in the client’s own material. Bespoke sizing, d...
Category

Late 18th Century Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Giltwood

SIX EXQUISITE ViNTAGE THOMAS CHIPPENDALE CHINESE PAGODA TOP DINING CHAIRS
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
Royal House Antiques We are delighted to offer this stunning suite of museum quality, George III style Thomas Chippendale Chinese Pagoda to...
Category

1940s English George III Vintage Seating

Materials

Upholstery, Hardwood

Ditchley Sofa
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine Regency design taken from Ditchley park, with carved and decorated sabre legs. The back with brass ball finals and the frame with inset paterae. The...
Category

19th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Brass

George II Library Wing Chair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine and well-drawn George II design country house library/drawing room wing chair. This chair is unusual in that it has extremely generous proporti...
Category

18th Century British Neoclassical Antique Seating

Materials

Feathers

Regent’s Park Library Armchair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A late Regency/early Victorian library open armchair with finely turned arm supports and turned and tapering front legs terminating in hand-cast brass castors. The armchair is classi...
Category

19th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Brass

Regency Hope Bench
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A carved and gilded window seat in the English Regency style. The upholstered and gently curved moulded ends are decorated with carved paterae and rest on Greek key pattern carved ra...
Category

18th Century European Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Gold Leaf

Marle Club Sofa
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
The Marle Club Sofa is a polished mahogany Regency design sofa/settee with fine classically polished tapering legs. Can be made to the client’s specific req...
Category

19th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

William Kent Teak Rousham Bench
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine William Kent teak Rousham bench of flat back form profusely carved. This bench can also be supplied in mahogany and specialist painted or polished for internal use. Bespoke...
Category

Early 18th Century British Rococo Antique Seating

Materials

Teak

Gillows Bench
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine regency design Grand Tour inspired mahogany bench/hall seat of elegant proportions. Almost certainly designed by renowned Charles Heathcote Tatham. Bespoke sizing, design a...
Category

19th Century British Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

Irish Estate Stool
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
An impressive carved mahogany stool, in the Irish mid-18th century manner, incorporating shell carved knees and hairy paw feet. To be upholstered in the clients own material. Besp...
Category

18th Century British George III Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

Adam Dressing Stool
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine carved gilt-wood dressing stool in the manner of Robert Adam, with fluted and turned legs. To be upholstered in client’s own material. Bespo...
Category

Early 19th Century Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Giltwood

Gillows Country House Stool
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A finely carved mahogany Gillows design library stool/ coffee table. Turned and stylised acanthus leaf decorated legs with a solid brass top block to leg...
Category

16th Century British Rococo Antique Seating

Materials

Brass

Tatham Dining Chair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A Regency mahogany dining chair with carved paterae and reeded legs, carved in the style of Tatham. To be upholstered in the clients own material. Bespoke sizing, design adaptatio...
Category

19th Century Regency Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

Greek Key Stool
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A Hepplewhite design stool or coffee table. The buttoned upholstered top above a fine Greek key frieze, supported by eight fine tapered and fluted legs. Fini...
Category

18th Century British Neoclassical Antique Seating

Materials

Brass

Sainsbury Library Armchair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A very fine Georgian mahogany library armchair of unusually generous proportions. Exceptional features of these chairs include the tapering Greek key...
Category

18th Century British Georgian Antique Seating

Materials

Cotton, Mahogany, Feathers

Rococco Gainsborough Chair
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine Rococco design Gainsborough chair in the French taste. Shown in a bleached out finish but can be classically polished if required. To be upho...
Category

17th Century British Rococo Antique Seating

Materials

Mahogany

Unique Chairs, Sofas and Other Seating for Sale on 1stDibs

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.

Recently Viewed

View All