Bay Colony Antiques is proud to offer for sale this wonderful pair of 18th century antique Irish Walnut side chairs. The chairs need to be reupholstered and have had a few repairs at the rear stiles and where the stiles meet the seat box. We were able to look past the few repairs and the upholstery and really enjoy the form of the chairs. The chairs have pierced splats with an exceptional & rare Holly carving at the center with carved curlicues above. The splat spreads into the serpentine crest rail with spiral scrolls at the center and carved flowers on the ears. The carved flowers are cute as a button and we were sure we’d seen them in one of our furniture books but they seem to be rarer than we had originally thought. Holly was an important plant to Celtic people across time. It is an evergreen plant & while not edible, it fed birds & their livestock during the cold winter months. The Holly tree was sacred to Gaelic people & was used as a medicine & to ward off evil spirits. We’d also like to point out the pierced medallion where the splat meets the crest. It’s an unusual shape and could be helpful in identifying a specific cabinet shop or further regionalizing these chairs. There are a few similar chairs in the Victoria & Albert collection in London, and in the Irish National Museum. The rear legs have a dramatic rake and the front legs have carved Acanthus leaves on the knees and end in carved trifid feet. Trifid feet originated in Ireland and are often referred to as a drake foot. Trifid feet can be found on English furniture, but it was by no means common. The chair on the (viewers) left in our gallery photo has a small hole towards the bottom of the splat where a tiny knot fell out and one toe is missing on the left foot on the left chair. The chairs measure 24” wide x 21” deep x 37” tall. The seats measure 22 1/4” wide x 17 3/4” deep with a 17 1/2” seat height.
