French Dining Chairs

During the Middle Ages people used for seating mainly simple benches and benches with high backs, and sometimes with armrests. Chairs, unlike today, were considered luxury. They were often decorated with carvings that became especially popular in the XVII century. In those days, the chairs were entirely made ​​of wood, although some did have wicker seat and back.

Golden age for furniture makers came at the end of XVII century in France and the Netherlands. The Dutch took over the experience of the French Huguenots who fled to the north of the persecution of the Catholic Church. French craftsman Daniel Marot became famous for his chairs for dining rooms, which were different from all other ones by a lush decor: carved backs, carved pillars and beams, velvet seats and curved legs.

The eighteenth century is the century of France in the history of french furniture. After the 1789 revolution in France chairs were mainly made ​​in the neoclassical style, and arrows, wreaths and garlands were used as symbols of the revolution.

French furniture features typically associated with cabriole legs and basic scalloped carving. Classical dining chairs often have a wheat pattern carving. The ladder back chair with a woven rush seat is the typical French dining chair. Finishes vary though common to all colours is the accumulation of polish or shabby in the carving over time resulting in an aged patina and emphasis on the carving regardless of whether it is painted furniture or stained.

Please check out our wide range of French dining chairs reproductions!