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Cheeky Highlander
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North Wind Chair
Initially we thought this was a Green Man chair in the whimsical style loved by the Gothic Revivalists - however, on closer inspection we realised this was North Wind.
Bored with the classicism and artistic restrictions of the Age of Reason, Romantic artists found their inspiration in the Medieval Age, albeit an idealized one.
Crumbling castles, enchanted realms, and magical beasts filled their art. The Victorians loved this and when English draftsman Augustus Charles Pugin published his Specimens of Gothic Architecture in 1821, the Gothic revival was born.
Wealthy English families built Gothic-style houses and filled them with furnishings reminiscent of castles and medieval cathedrals. As time went on, carved plants, animals, and mythical creatures began to appear on the antique furniture they used to decorate their homes.
A wave of whimsical furniture soon appeared in England and swept across the Atlantic where it flooded houses from Boston to San Francisco.
By the end of the 19th century, parlors and bedrooms overflowed with fabulously carved antique furniture. Griffins supported sideboards, lions roared from the pedestals of dining room antique tables, and North Wind faces whispered from the backs of chairs.
The most curious item produced in America toward the end of the 19th century was the Roman-style,or cross-frame, "face chair." In design, the chair resembled the folding 14th-century Italian Savonarola chair. This odd little chair became a must-have item for American parlors.
The most common face was a stylized North Wind blowing wooden tendrils of” "wind" from its mouth.Other faces included grinning ogres, laughing gremlins, and satyrs with wickedly out-thrust tongues. Neptune and the Green Man, or foliate head of Celtic mythology, were also popular subjects.
It isn’t surprising that the stone ancestors of these faces stare down from the tops of medieval cathedrals and guildhalls across Europe. The origin of the faces is fairly easy to trace. Woodcarvers arriving in America from Germany in the mid-18th century found work in Midwest furniture factories. They brought their traditions and mythologies with them. In a way, their carvings were like fairy tales and folk tales fashioned in wood to delight and entertain.
They fashioned the backrests from oak or mahogany while they used less expensive wood, stained to match the backrest, for the rest of the chair. While they lavishly carved the faces, they kept the rest of the chair’s design relatively simple. Sometimes, they carved grooves into the ends of the arms to suggest fingers, and sometimes they turned the chair’s stretcher bars.
By the early 20th century, face chairs had all but died. As time progressed, the design pendulum swept from sumptuous Victorian ornamentation through the more restrained carving of the Eastlake period to the even cleaner lines of Mission-style and Art Deco furniture. Unfortunately, even paint couldn’t modernize these chairs, so most of them ended up in attics and basements. Many people simple destroyed them.
Dimensions: 42cm deep x 47cm wide x 119cm height
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SellerCheeky Highlander
View all stock from
Cheeky Highlander
Gladstone House
King Street
Tain
Highlands, Scotland
IV19 1AF
Tel : 0800 2922724
Non UK callers : +44 800 2922724
Get directions to Cheeky Highlander
Bored with the classicism and artistic restrictions of the Age of Reason, Romantic artists found their inspiration in the Medieval Age, albeit an idealized one.
Crumbling castles, enchanted realms, and magical beasts filled their art. The Victorians loved this and when English draftsman Augustus Charles Pugin published his Specimens of Gothic Architecture in 1821, the Gothic revival was born.
Wealthy English families built Gothic-style houses and filled them with furnishings reminiscent of castles and medieval cathedrals. As time went on, carved plants, animals, and mythical creatures began to appear on the antique furniture they used to decorate their homes.
A wave of whimsical furniture soon appeared in England and swept across the Atlantic where it flooded houses from Boston to San Francisco.
By the end of the 19th century, parlors and bedrooms overflowed with fabulously carved antique furniture. Griffins supported sideboards, lions roared from the pedestals of dining room antique tables, and North Wind faces whispered from the backs of chairs.
The most curious item produced in America toward the end of the 19th century was the Roman-style,or cross-frame, "face chair." In design, the chair resembled the folding 14th-century Italian Savonarola chair. This odd little chair became a must-have item for American parlors.
The most common face was a stylized North Wind blowing wooden tendrils of” "wind" from its mouth.Other faces included grinning ogres, laughing gremlins, and satyrs with wickedly out-thrust tongues. Neptune and the Green Man, or foliate head of Celtic mythology, were also popular subjects.
It isn’t surprising that the stone ancestors of these faces stare down from the tops of medieval cathedrals and guildhalls across Europe. The origin of the faces is fairly easy to trace. Woodcarvers arriving in America from Germany in the mid-18th century found work in Midwest furniture factories. They brought their traditions and mythologies with them. In a way, their carvings were like fairy tales and folk tales fashioned in wood to delight and entertain.
They fashioned the backrests from oak or mahogany while they used less expensive wood, stained to match the backrest, for the rest of the chair. While they lavishly carved the faces, they kept the rest of the chair’s design relatively simple. Sometimes, they carved grooves into the ends of the arms to suggest fingers, and sometimes they turned the chair’s stretcher bars.
By the early 20th century, face chairs had all but died. As time progressed, the design pendulum swept from sumptuous Victorian ornamentation through the more restrained carving of the Eastlake period to the even cleaner lines of Mission-style and Art Deco furniture. Unfortunately, even paint couldn’t modernize these chairs, so most of them ended up in attics and basements. Many people simple destroyed them.
Dimensions: 42cm deep x 47cm wide x 119cm height
Add To Cart
Price The price has been listed in British Pounds.
Conversion rates as of 28/OCT/2024. Euro & Dollar prices will vary and should only be used as a guide.
Always confirm final price with dealer.
DimensionsDimensions: 42cm deep x 47cm wide x 119cm height
Category Antique Furniture
> Antique Armchairs
Period Late Victorian Antiques
Material Oak
Item code as1164a043
Status Sold
£325.00 
$422.37 
€390.20 
$
€
Conversion rates as of 28/OCT/2024. Euro & Dollar prices will vary and should only be used as a guide.
Always confirm final price with dealer.
Shipping information
Nationwide UK delivery included in price. Please contact us for a quote for International delivery
View all stock from
Cheeky Highlander
Gladstone HouseKing Street
Tain
Highlands, Scotland
IV19 1AF
Tel : 0800 2922724
Non UK callers : +44 800 2922724
Get directions to Cheeky Highlander
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Restored Victorian Chesterfield Rocking Chair
Late 19th Walnut Wing Armchair
19thc Mahogany Button Back Armchair
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Restored Edwardian 1910 Captins Desk Chair
Circa 1820 Dutch marquetry inlaid side hall chair
Pair of Art Deco Armchairs by Maurice Adams 1930's