Traditional-style dining room chairs provide elegant seating in today's homes.
Traditional styles in dining chairs have retained their popularity since their introductions in the United States from the 18th through early 19th centuries. The most widely used styles--and often their makers--made their way from England to the American colonies during this period and influenced America's own Federal style. Far from stodgy, the graceful lines of traditional-style dining chairs meld seamlessly with contemporary furnishings in today's homes. Whether you choose authentic antiques or fine reproductions, traditional-style chairs provide elegant seating at your dining room table.
Queen Anne
A Queen Anne chair has a high, open back with a curving, crested rail. It can be identified by its solid, unpierced vertical splat shaped like a vase or urn. Legs are cabriole and often exhibit shell carvings on the knees. Feet are often ball-and-claw design. Most early Queen Anne chairs were made of walnut. Later versions were made of mahogany, many of these being more elaborately carved than earlier versions.
Chippendale
Chippendale furniture is the first style of furniture from England to be named after the cabinetmaker rather than the reigning monarch. Thomas Chippendale produced many designs of dining chairs, mostly in mahogany. The backs were more elaborate than those of Queen Anne chairs, with more-intricate rails and with splats being pierced and carved. Legs were either straight or cabriole with ball-and-claw feet.
Hepplewhite
Dining chairs in Hepplewhite style are distinguished by a back in the shape of a shield, heart or oval. Carvings incorporate neoclassical motifs such as urns, festoons and braids. Legs are straight and tapered, with straight stretchers joining them. Hepplewhite dining chairs were often made of mahogany, with possible secondary woods of cherry or maple. They exhibit a graceful simplicity of form.
Sheraton
Thomas Sheraton designed dining chairs with a more-simple, feminine form. Backs have a shape that's almost square but very open, with narrow, carved spindles or delicate curves. Legs may be simple and fluted or have some turning detail; they're slim, straight and slightly tapered but usually without stretchers. Any arms are narrow and gracefully curved. Seats are completely upholstered with no exposed wood trim.
English Regency
English Regency chairs carry on the neoclassical style but pair that with the growing interest in the early 1800s in Egyptian furnishings. The top rails of most Regency dining chairs resemble curved planks, reminiscent of chairs discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs. Backs are open, usually having a single horizontal rail midway. Legs are straight or flared and often have paw feet with brass caps. The wood used is primarily mahogany but sometimes rosewood.
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