A reference to the named chair forms most commonly seen in British upholstery work, with their characteristic dimensions and the features that identify each.
It's designed as a quick lookup. An upholsterer can use it to identify a customer's chair; an owner can use it to find out what they have. Each entry is cross-referenced to the project chapter that covers its technique in Part Three.
Wing-backs
Georgian wing-back
c. 1720–1810
Typical dimensions: seat 480–520 mm high; back 1100–1200 mm tall; sloping wings.
Defining features: sloping wings angled outward at the top; a low, deep seat; cabriole legs with show-wood; restrained gimp trim. The seat was originally low for the eighteenth-century habit of seated reading.
Project chapter: the Wing-Back Armchair (Part Three).
Victorian wing-back
c. 1850–1900
Typical dimensions: seat 480–510 mm high; back 1100–1250 mm tall; vertical wings.
Defining features: more vertical wings, with less outward angle; a higher, firmer seat than the Georgian; turned legs or front castors; sometimes show-wood feet only, with no other show-wood. A heavier feel.
Project chapter: the Wing-Back Armchair (Part Three).
Howard chair
c. 1870–1930
Typical dimensions: seat 460–490 mm high; back 1050–1150 mm tall; rounded wings.
Defining features: a specific maker's design — Howard & Sons of Berners Street, London. Vertically-rolled wings, a sprung back, a deep seat with a feather-and-down cushion. A brass tag on the underside identifies a genuine Howard; copies are common — see the workshop story on telling a Howard from a Howard-style chair.
Project chapter: the Wing-Back Armchair (Part Three).
Sofas
Chesterfield sofa
c. 1830–present (peak 1880–1910)
Typical dimensions: length 1700–2500 mm; seat 460–500 mm high; back 800–900 mm tall.
Defining features: arms equal in height to the back; deep buttoning across all inside surfaces; rolled arm fronts; brass-nail trim along the show edges; bun feet. Originally a fixed-seat Victorian form; modern versions have loose cushions.
Project chapter: the Chesterfield Sofa (Part Three).
Knole settee
c. 1620–present (revived c. 1900)
Typical dimensions: length 1700–2200 mm; seat 460 mm high; back 1000–1100 mm tall, with hinged sides.
Defining features: hinged sides that fold up to make a daybed or lie flat for a sofa, held in position by tasselled corner-cords. Originally from Knole House in Kent; revived as a decorative form during the Arts and Crafts movement.
Technique: a variant of the wing-back chapter (Part Three).
Camelback sofa
c. 1750–1820
Typical dimensions: length 1800–2200 mm; seat 460–490 mm high; a double-curve top profile.
Defining features: a distinctive top-rail profile with two humps and a central valley — the “camel back”. Often associated with Hepplewhite and Sheraton designs. Stuffover construction; show-wood arms and legs.
Technique: adapted from the stuffover chapter (Part Three).
Armchairs (non-wing)
Slipper chair
c. 1850–1900
Typical dimensions: seat 380–420 mm high (low); back 800–900 mm tall; no arms.
Defining features: a low-seated armless chair, originally for ladies dressing. Often deep-buttoned on the back; turned front legs; show-wood frame at the rear. Lightweight and portable.
Technique: a variant of the stuffover chapter (Part Three).
Tub chair
c. 1820–present
Typical dimensions: seat 450–480 mm high; back 700–800 mm tall; circular plan.
Defining features: a curved, continuous back-and-arms forming a tub shape; a deep seat; often deep-buttoned across the inside back. Modern tub chairs often use foam-and-staple construction over a ply tub frame.
Technique: adapted from the wing-back and foam chapters (Parts Two and Three).
Club chair
c. 1900–present
Typical dimensions: seat 460–490 mm high; back 850–950 mm tall; arms equal to or just below back height.
Defining features: a descendant of the Chesterfield with a single-seat footprint. Deep-buttoned (sometimes), leather (usually), rolled arms (always), bun feet (often). The natural single-chair partner to a Chesterfield sofa.
Technique: the Chesterfield chapter on a single-chair scale (Part Three).
Specialty forms
Davenport sofa
c. 1820–1890 (British) / c. 1890–1950 (American)
Typical dimensions: length 1500–1800 mm (British) or 1800–2400 mm (American).
Defining features: the British Davenport is a small writing-desk-with-drawers, not a sofa at all; the American Davenport is a large convertible sofa-bed. The two are unrelated despite the name — check which one the customer means.
Technique: the American version uses modern-sofa methods (Part Three).
Prie-dieu chair
c. 1840–1880
Typical dimensions: seat 380–420 mm high; back 1100–1200 mm tall; no arms.
Defining features: a tall-backed prayer chair, designed for kneeling on the low seat and resting the forearms on the upper back. Always armless; often with a small shelf at the top of the back. Heavy Victorian, often with deep buttoning on a small scale.
Technique: adapted from the stuffover and buttoning chapters (Part Three).
Salon chair
c. 1850–1900
Typical dimensions: seat 460 mm high; back 850 mm tall; small arms.
Defining features: a lightweight, French-influenced occasional armchair, often with a show-wood frame, gimp trim, and shallow upholstery (no springs). Came in matched sets for drawing rooms, and is often re-covered as a whole set in matching fabric.
Technique: adapted from the stuffover chapter, without springing (Part Three).
Twelve chair forms, every one of which we've worked on at least a dozen times. The next chapter closes Part Five with the regulations, standards, and bibliography — the necessary administrative reference for any working upholstery shop.