William & Mary Walnut Chairs with Architectural Back

• Provenance - A term used to describe the provable history of an antique or work of art, and thus an additional aid to verifying its authenticity. Provenance can have an inflating effect on the price of an item, particularly if the provenance relates to the early settlement of Australia, a famous person, or royalty. Less significant are previous sales of the item through an auction house or dealer.
• Pierced Decoration - Ornamental woodwork with part of the background cut through and removed to produce an open-work pattern.
• Turned Legs - are legs which have been turned on a lathe. In use from the 16th century, turned legs on tables, chairs and cabinets became more frequent until, by the 1830s, the Georgian square or tapered leg was rarely found except in country pieces.
• Column - An architectural feature sometimes used for decorative effect and sometimes as part of the supporting construction. Columns should generally taper slightly towards the top. They may be plain or decorated with carving, fluting or reeding. Columns may be fully rounded or, more commonly, half-rounded and attached with glue, screws or pins to the outer stiles of doors, or the facing uprights on cabinets and bureaux.
• Stretcher - A horizontal rail which connects the legs of stools, chairs, tables and stands, to provide stabilisation of the legs. A stretcher table is any table with a stretcher base. The term is usually applied to substantial farmhouse tables, although many cabinetmaker's pieces, such as sofa tables, also have turned stretchers.
• Turning - Any part of a piece of furniture that has been turned and shaped with chisels on a lathe. Turned sections include legs, columns, feet, finials, pedestals, stretchers, spindles etc. There have been many varieties and fashions over the centuries: baluster, melon, barley-sugar, bobbin, cotton-reel, rope-twist, and so on. Split turning implies a turned section that has been cut in half lengthwise and applied to a cabinet front as a false decorative support.
• Foliate - Decorated with leaves or leaf-like forms.
• Over Upholstered Seat - In the mid 19th century coiled upholstery springs came into use and frame of the chair was used as the upholstery frame, making for a much more comfortable and responsive seat. The springs were held in place by webbing and were covered with horse hair, coconut fibre or seaweed with the edges stiched so they were more defined.
  
  This type of seat was known as an over-upholstered or over-stuffed seat
  
  Prior to this, a drop in (or "drop on") seat was commonly used. This was an unsprung removable seat where the upholstery was attached to a wooden frame, which was held in place by the sides of the chair, and usually a wooden peg at the front of the chair. Because the upholstery frame was not very deep, the seats were relatively uncomfortable.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• chairs, singles / pairs / threes, style or period
  • William & Mary (c1700 - 1725) 14
  • William IV 123
• chairs, singles / pairs / threes, timber - walnut 710