Antique Seating & Chairs

The hardest working antiques in any house.

A chair carries moving weight on jointed timber, which is why seating is the category where condition and structural honesty matter most and where sympathetic repair is most often justified. Original surfaces are worth preserving, but a chair that cannot safely be sat in is a decorative object rather than a chair. The Antique Guild assesses frames, joints and upholstery before any seating enters the collection, and is direct about what has been restored. We deliver throughout Australia. Explore the current selection below.

Why collect antique seating through The Antique Guild

Every chair and settee assessed for period frame construction, upholstery history and structural soundness before entering the collection
Specialist knowledge across dining chairs, armchairs, chaises longues and settees — from Georgian mahogany to Viennese Secession bentwood
Sourced from private collections and specialist furniture estates, with attention to pieces that retain period frames and original proportions
Seating chosen to be sat in — antique chairs and sofas that bring craft and character into a room

Care Guide

What to Look For When Buying

Turn a chair over. The underside shows the seat rails, the corner blocks, the joints and any evidence of previous repair, and it is where re-railing, replaced blocks and modern screws are visible. Joints should be tight, with no movement when the frame is gently flexed, and the mortice and tenon joints between the seat rails and the legs are the ones that fail. Look for old repairs done well, which is normal and acceptable, and for bodged repairs using modern screws, brackets and epoxy, which are harder to undo and often indicate a frame that has been failing for some time.

Wear should make sense. The front edge of a seat rail, the arm ends, the stretchers where feet have rested and the top rail where hands have pulled the chair out all wear in predictable places, and even wear across a whole frame suggests refinishing. On sets, check that every chair is genuinely from the same set rather than assembled from similar chairs, comparing timber colour, carving depth and the exact profile of the legs. Original upholstery is rare and worth preserving where it survives, though old webbing and horsehair beneath a sound cover may still need attention. We describe frame condition, repairs and upholstery status in every listing.

Caring for Your Piece

Lift a chair by the seat rails, never by the arms, the back or the top rail, which is the single most common way antique chairs are broken. Move a chair rather than dragging it, particularly on tiled or timber floors, since dragging transmits shock straight into the joints. Keep seating away from direct sunlight, which fades and weakens upholstery fabric and dries out leather, and away from heating and cooling outlets, which shrink timber and cause joints to loosen.

Vacuum upholstery gently with a brush attachment on low suction rather than beating or scrubbing it, and attend to spills by blotting rather than rubbing. Leather benefits from an occasional appropriate leather conditioner and nothing else. Wax the timber frame lightly two or three times a year, avoiding any contact with fabric. Have a loose joint attended to as soon as it is noticed, because a chair used with a loose joint wears the timber inside the joint and turns a simple re-glue into a re-cut. Reserve the piece for lighter use if it is fragile, and be candid with guests about which chairs are structural and which are not.

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Is it safe to sit on antique chairs?

Most well made antique seating is entirely serviceable, provided the frame is sound and has been assessed. Dining chairs in particular were built for constant use. Caution is warranted with chairs that have never been re-railed, with painted and gilded chairs made as decorative pieces, and with anything showing movement in the joints. If a chair creaks or flexes when you press down on the seat, stop using it until a restorer has looked at it.
Does reupholstering reduce value?

Reupholstering with appropriate materials and traditional methods does not, and on most nineteenth century seating it is simply part of normal maintenance. Value is affected where original upholstery of genuine rarity is removed, or where modern techniques are used that require tacking into original show wood, creating damage that cannot be undone. A restorer experienced with period seating will work with the existing tack lines rather than opening new ones.
What does re-railing mean?

Re-railing is the replacement or reinforcement of seat rails, the horizontal members that join the legs beneath the seat and carry the load. It is common on chairs that have been in use for a century or more, because those joints take the most stress. Done properly it makes a chair usable for another lifetime and is regarded as sound restoration rather than damage, and it should be disclosed.
One chair in my set is looser than the others. Why?

Chairs in a set rarely wear evenly, because one gets used more, sits in the sun, or takes a heavier sitter. It is worth having the loose one attended to on its own rather than assuming the whole set needs work. It is also worth rotating chairs around the table periodically so that wear distributes more evenly over time.
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