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Guide to Antique Dining Chairs

Before the American Civil War, dining chairs were usually made by small firms employing skilled craftsmen. Afterward, mechanized processes became the norm and production shifted to the Midwest, to places such as Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Construction
- Dining chairs dating from before the Civil War were usually constructed with mortise-and-tenon joints, where one piece terminates in a rectangular shape which slots into a corresponding hole. Later chairs used a dowel construction (i.e., held together by small wooden rods.) Better quality chairs were made from rosewood and mahogany, cheaper pieces from oak or pine.
Style
- Before the 1850s, dining chairs displayed a restrained, neo-classical style which matched the architecture of the time. This gave way to the heavy swags and solid, upholstered backs of the neo-Rococo, which remained fashionable until the early 20th century.
Finishes
- From the 1850s onward, American manufacturers experimented with ways of enhancing machine-cut decoration with laminated finishes. As the century progressed, ebonizing, gilding and even the application of ormolu (gilt metal mounts) found favor with the public.
Makers
- Despite the rise of the Midwest as a manufacturing center, the high end of the furniture market was dominated by New York manufacturers. Names to look out for are John Henry Belter, Leon Marcotte, Thomas Brooks and Herter Bros.

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