17th Century and Later Antique Oak Child’s High Chair, the Carved Back Dated "1670"

This charming English antique child’s high chair in oak incorporates a carved panelled back and arms of the seventeenth century, the cresting rail boldly dated 1670.

The cresting is carved in relief with the date. Below it, the panel is carved with scrolling foliage above a moulded lower rail, and the back is flanked by plain stiles. The shaped arms curve forward to scrolled hand-rests. The dated back has a deep patina and the softened, worn edges of more than three and a half centuries.

In the nineteenth century the chair was repaired, using these period elements. It was given its present bobbin-turned front legs and arm supports, a plank seat, the shaped footrest and the lower sections of the back legs, all united by plain stretchers. The rebuilding was done with evident care. The later turnings and timbers have mellowed sympathetically, and the chair reads as a coherent and appealing whole.

Child’s high chairs of the seventeenth century are among the rarest survivals of English vernacular furniture, and a dated example is rarer still. This piece offers the chance to own a genuinely dated seventeenth-century carved back in a characterful and displayable form. It is ideal for a hallway, beside a hearth, or as a centrepiece among early oak.

Provenance: England. 17th Century and later.

Material: Oak.

Condition: The back rail, carved panelled back and arms are of the seventeenth century. The front turned legs and arm supports, the seat board, the footrest and the back legs below the seat are nineteenth-century replacements, as visible in the images. There is wear, shrinkage and old surface marks consistent with age, and a good colour and patina throughout. The chair is offered as a decorative and historical piece and not for use by a child. 

Dimensions: Height approximately 31½ in (80 cm) at the back.