Bay Colony Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this charming pair of antique New England Tiger Maple pillow back chairs. We purchased these from a local Franklin County home which was about 25 miles from the VT/NH border, and we believe they were made right in that tri-state area. The subtle splay of the front legs can be found on other documented Vermont chairs, but the design can also be found on furniture from the surrounding states, so to err on the side of caution we have these marketed as simply New England Chairs.
We’re always in the market for quality Antique Tiger Maple furniture, especially pairs of chairs. The legs have a ton of character with a ball & ringlet turning at the top, and we wanted to point out an easy to miss design choice which is the slight taper about 1/3 of the way down on the leg. The diameter tapers in ever so slightly with a purposeful shoulder and is commonly referred to as a bell turning. There’s a series of tight ringlets right above the splayed feet and the legs terminate with ball feet. The chairs are in very good condition with our only notes being minor surface wear, a slight color variation between the two, & a small 1" x 1" square of rush missing on one chair. The rush seats appear to be original and were sealed with either a hide glue or shellac to extend their longevity. We pass up on a lot of chairs that are too fragile to sit on, but even with the small square missing, the seats are structurally sound. A custom pair of cushions would be a relatively inexpensive solution to hiding the small rush loss without altering the chairs. The chairs measure 16 1/2” wide x 18 1/4” deep x 33” tall with an 18” seat height.
