Folk Art Side Chairs

During the 18th century, a profound design movement took place in Wales. It was led by peasant-carpenters who, simply in an effort to create a practical seating option, produced one of the most elegant spindle back chairs of that time. It is known as the 'Welsh Stick Chair...

Traditional antique mountain chair from Southern Germany. This characteristic and primitive chair is entirely handmade and assembled using mortise and tenon joints. This particular p...

Traditional antique mountain chair from southern Germany. This characteristic and primitive chair is entirely handmade and assembled with mortise and tenon joints. The piece is made ...

Traditional antique Alpine chair from Southern Germany. This distinctive, primitive chair is entirely handmade and constructed using mortise-and-tenon joints. Crafted from pine, it w...

Confortable pair of Swedish hand carved pine trunk seats from the early 1900. Lots of history, patina and traces of time. Very good condition. Could be used to sit on a desk or a ta...

This early 20th-century French Folk Art side chair, hand-carved from pine, embodies a modernist spirit with its playful silhouette and chunky saddle seat. What truly sets it apart is...

Unique rustic primitive chair in folk art from the early 19th century, northern Sweden. The chair is made by hand in solid pine and in untouched original condition with clear signs o...

This finely painted and decorated child's chair from New England has wonderful original gilding and fine stenciled splash. The rush seat is original to the chair. There is wear to be...

Primitive combined chair and table. This folk art combination furniture is a good example of 19th century compact living. The goal was to fit as many uses into the same item or a lim...

Folk Art combination furniture table and chair. Combination furniture are great for small spaces and this works well as a coffee table or side table. Made early 1800s, circa 1820-184...

Charming Swedish folk art chair from Hälsingland in Sweden. The chair is made during the early 1800s in Swedish pine. It has the original paint which has become naturally distressed ...

Vintage Scandinavian Country Style Design Red Lacquer and Rope Side Chair set of 2. Made in Sweden, 1960's period. High gloss red lacquered frame with woven rope seat. Turned and car...

Vintage Austrian Folk Art Side Chair with Rush Seat. Made in Austria, 1970's. Orange painted beech frame with rush woven seat. The chair has nice spi...

This stunning vintage low weaver’s chair is a masterclass in folk art craftsmanship and global design. Featuring an intricately hand-carved backrest adorned with traditional geometri...

A special, remarkably decorative, extremely rare and wonderfully striking antique European folk-art carved chair in lovely antique condition. Most likely made around 1770 in the Swiss Alps, this fabulous museum-quality historical artefact is a stunningly carved and still very usable chair, which will add a fabulously rustic, Alpine folk-art aesthetic as well as cultural interest, artistic charm and historic fascination to any interior. An incredibly rare and special chair, this was traditionally handcrafted from quality solid wood and has a charming walnut single-piece trapezoid seat displaying lovely grain, which the eight-sided legs slot into at an angle, and the back vertically. The legs are likely made from oak with the show-stopping back carved from fruitwood. A truly captivating chair, the standout feature is its extraordinary pierce-relief carved back, which casts a stunning silhouette, and its carving depicts two intertwining figure-of-eight snakes set on a shapely plinth, topped by a carved and 1471 dated crown design. Crafted in two parts, the folk-art back carving is wonderfully detailed and vernacular in style, and the pierce-relief carving denotes it as being particularly old and rare and differentiates it from later Alpine chairs, which feature solid backs onto which decorations are carved. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE The Middle Ages were particularly turbulent in the Swiss Alps, as post-Roman feudal factions competed for power for more than a millennium in this important land, which intersected the larger powers of Italy, France, Germany and Austria. We believe this chair was most likely made in 1771 and that its 1471 date carving commemorated three-hundred years of the Three Leagues Alliance, (1471-1779), a coalition of three political leagues of free peoples which was created to bring about strength, unity and peace to the people in the warring Swiss Alps region (think William Tell, the revolutionary Swiss folk hero, who stood up for the peasantry against tithe-taking feudal barons in the Swiss Alps, and who was first referenced in 1474.) The free people of the Swiss Alps would have well known that peace for them and their entire region was not only brought about by, but also largely depended on, the Three Leagues Alliance, and so commemorating its inauguration date of 1471 is more than fitting for a craftsman from this region. And as snakes symbolise healing and protection, their use in conjunction with the 1471 commemorative date perfectly displays what the Swiss Alp craftsman was memorializing when creating this fascinating chair. Similar chairs can be referred to as Swiss, German, Alpine, Alsatian, Tyrolean, Sgabello or Escabelle chairs...

During the 18th century, a profound design movement took place in Wales. It was led by peasant-carpenters who, simply in an effort to create a practical seating option, produced one of the most elegant spindle back chairs of that time. It is known as the 'Welsh Stick Chair...

An unusual English walnut low chair dating to the 19th century, displaying the bold construction and sculptural character associated with vernacular or folk furniture. Standing only ...

A solid pine side chair designed and produced in Sweden, 19th century. 18.5" seat height

French Folk Art ladderback homemade farm chair with crudely roped seat, primitive design of the late 19th century. In good condition for its age, it has a beautifully aged patina and...

A pair of mid 20th c. Birdcage Windsor side chairs with braced back design and nicely patinated original finish. A classic style of Colonial American furniture, with roots in 18th ce...

An unusual English walnut low chair dating to the 19th century, displaying the distinctive sculptural character of traditional vernacular furniture. The chair stands on three splayed...

A wood side or lounge chair designed and produced in Sweden, c. 1930s. Seat height: 15”

Antique Small Ladder Back Green Primitive Folk Art Rustic Childs Chair with Deer Hide Leather Seat. Circa Mid 19th Century. Measurements: 30.5" H x 18" W x 16" D x 12.5" Seat height.

Swedish country chair, untouched original, in very fine condition. Made of pine with remnants of the original dark brown paint and the original bast seat. A highly decorative chair.

Charming patinated Swedish folk art chairs made in the 19th. century. All in pinewood and original paint. Great for a side chair or as a small table.

Set of four gray painted side chairs with upholstered seats. The central splat of each backrest is decorated with a circular printed city view. The chairs have been newly painted in ...

Pair of Norwegian Folk Art Chairs, circa 1800-1820 A significant and rare matched pair of early 19th-century side chairs from Rogaland/Vestland, Norway. Representing the height of v...

Vernacular ladder back fireside chair in birch with later rush seat. Unusual decorative turned finial ears atop the back's stiles. Wonderfully slightly misshapened wooden back cross ...

Antique carved and painted kubbestol, a traditional Scandinavian chair crafted from a single log. The lovely original red paint is accented by a carved and black painted band. Much o...

A pair of beautifully patinated folk art chairs made in Sweden in the 19th century. Made from pinewood with black lacquered seats. Traditionally, these primitive chairs stood in the ...