Antique English George V Oak & Brown Leather Revolving Armless Small Office Desk Side Chair (Circa 1920)

Object Description

Antique English George V Oak & Brown Leather Revolving Armless Small Office Desk Side Chair (Circa 1920)

This is a fine quality antique English George V solid oak armless revolving armless desk chair, with an upholstered tan-brown leather seat, circa 1920, which is in very good condition.

Summary:

Item: Armless Desk Chair
Circa: 1920
Period: George V
Provenance: England, UK
Mechanism: Hillcrest
Wood: Oak
Height adjustable mechanism
Curved bar back
Elegant vertical fan back
Cleaned & wax polished by hand
Brown tan leather hand tacked brass stud seat
Splayed oak legs
Rotates 360 degrees (does not recline)
Adjustable height

Cleaned & serviced mechanism
Very comfortable
Lovely rich colour & patination
Excellent working condition
Free delivery to mainland England, Wales & southern Scotland*
14-day free UK returns policy

Description:

This is a fine quality antique English George V solid oak armless revolving armless desk chair, with an upholstered tan-brown leather seat, circa 1920, which is in very good condition. Oak was a popular timber of choice for utility office chairs, owing to the natural strength of grain in functional furniture. The revolving desk chair features a comfortable curved bar back, supported by an elegant vertical fan back, with bentwood supports. The armless desk chair seat has been upholstered in a tan-brown leather, which is finished with hand-tacked brass studs to the perimeter. The office chair frame has been tightened, cleaned and French polished by hand, to a professional standard, in our workshop. The chair sits on four splayed sturdy oak legs. The armless desk chair incorporates an English Hillcrest revolving mechanism which rotates 360 degrees. The seat height can be adjusted by turning a shaped metal large nut on the underside of the chair and rotating the chair at the same time. This office chair was not designed to recline (it only revolves). The chair mechanism has been cleaned, restored and serviced and is in excellent working order. The desk chair frame is sturdy and the item is extremely comfortable to sit on, as it features a lovely padded seat.

The armless desk chair boasts a dark rich brown colour. It has a lovely patination which can only be achieved through age and years of care and cleaning it has received.

This swivel office desk chair would look superb in a variety of rooms in the home or office, in either a traditional or contemporary setting. It would certainly grace any home.

Dimensions:

The following information provides dimensions on when the chair height is lowered and also raised to its highest setting using by adjusting the central steel rod:
External Height (Lowered) = 86cm / 33⅞” / 2ft 9⅞”
External Height (Raised) = 97.5cm / 38⅜” / 3ft 2⅜”
External Width = 43cm / 17” / 1ft 5”
External Depth = 44.5cm / 17½”/ 1ft 5½”
Back Height (From Seat) = 44.5cm / 17½”/ 1ft 5½”
Seat Height – Centre (Lowered) = 47cm / 18½” / 1ft 6½”
Seat Height – Centre (Raised) = 58.5cm / 23” / 1ft 11”
Seat Height – Front Rail (Lowered) = 44.5cm / 17½”/ 1ft 5½”
Seat Height – Front Rail (Raised) = 55.5cm / 21⅞” / 1ft 9⅞”
Seat Width (Leather Pad) = 36cm / 14⅛” / 1ft 2⅛”
Seat Width (Inc. Frame) = 43cm / 17” / 1ft 5”
Seat Depth (Leather Pad) = 34cm / 13⅜” / 1ft 1⅜”
Seat Depth (Frame) = 39.5cm / 15½” / 1ft 3½”

Customer Service:

We offer customer satisfaction through the following services:
Free delivery to England, Wales & Southern Scotland*
14-day free UK returns
Full money back assurance
Worldwide shipping
Full insurance of items in transit

Further Information:

For more information or photographs please email or call Yola Gray Antiques.
Office: 01829 458 070
Julian: 07960 738 212 
Yola: 07971 882 567 
Customers outside the UK should call: 
Office: 00 44 1829 458 070 
Julian: 00 44 7960 738 212 
Yola: 00 44 7971 882 567 
Email: [email protected]

Free UK Delivery*:

We offer free delivery to mainland England, Wales, and Southern Scotland (anywhere south of Stirling). *We do not offer free delivery to locations north of Stirling in Scotland, Northern Ireland, or any British Islands off the mainland; for example, the Isle of Man, Isle of White and Channel Islands. If you live in one of the areas where we do not offer free delivery, please contact us for a delivery quote before purchasing the item. Delivery will be made by our specialised antique furniture delivery service, or in some cases we will use a courier service for distant deliveries.

Delivery times are usually 1-4 weeks depending on location; we aim to deliver the majority of items within 2 weeks. All items are professionally packaged and fully insured in transit; therefore, we can assure you, your items will be securely protected in transit and arrive safely with you.

Once you have purchased an item, we will contact you by email and/or telephone and provide you with a provisional delivery date, in order for you to confirm if it is suitable for you. Once you have confirmed you can accept delivery on the provisional delivery date, we will book the delivery in with our shippers and it then becomes a confirmed delivery date.

We will also provide you with our shippers’ contact details, in case you need to contact the driver on the day of delivery. It’s helpful if you can provide us with both the landline and mobile telephone number, in case the driver cannot reach you on one of the numbers on the day of delivery, they can contact you on your alternative number.

In order to be able to offer you free delivery, it is based on a 1-man delivery only. For any large items that require 2 people to lift the item, we ask that you are available at the time of delivery to be able to give our shipper a lift off the van and into your house with the item. If you are not able to lift items yourself, we ask that you have someone on hand at the time of delivery to assist our shipper with lifting the item.

14-Day Free UK Returns & Refunds:

A 14-day free “no quibble” UK returns policy (from the date you receive the item) is available if you are not happy with this item. We will collect the item free of charge from you (we do not charge a return fee / collection fee). You will be given a full refund as long as the item is returned in the same condition. We will collect returns using our own specialist furniture delivery company. We will not accept returns via a courier service (due to experience of damaged items in transit). This refund policy only applies to deliveries to the UK.

UK Buyer Payment:

For UK buyers, we accept cash on collection or delivery; cheque, credit card, BACS (free bank to bank transfer) or PayPal. Payment is requested within 5 days of the sale. Payment must be cleared before the items are collected or delivered.

International Buyers:

If you live outside the UK and you would like to purchase this item, please contact us before purchasing it, so that we can obtain an accurate shipping quote and delivery lead-time. The shipping quote provided is a global estimate only. The actual shipping cost will vary by country and postcode. We ask that you have a minimum feedback score of 50 to buy this item. Due to the distances and costs involved with shipping outside the UK, a returns policy is therefore not available for international buyers. Before placing your order(s) please make sure this is the item for you. We request payment by bank transfer (we do not accept payment via PayPal, credit or debit cards for international purchases). Payment is requested within 10 days of the purchase. Payment must be cleared before the items are collected or delivered to our shippers. The advertised price of the item does not include the shipping cost, sales tax, import duty or custom fees.

Important information regarding PayPal payment:

We only accept payment from fully verified PayPal account holders with confirmed addresses only. Items will only be sent to the confirmed address registered in PayPal. If you purchase an item and your address is not confirmed, your payment will be refunded and the purchase cancelled. It only takes a few moments to verify and confirm your PayPal details.

Delisting & Sale Cancellation:

This item is currently being advertised elsewhere. If it is sold through another sales channel, it will be removed from sale at the earliest possible time (even if the listing has not ended). If this item has been purchased, but the item has already been sold via another sales channel prior to the sale, we reserve the right to cancel the sale of this item.

About the Seller:

This item is being sold by Yola Gray Antiques who is an accredited member of LAPADA (the UK’s largest Trade Association of Professional Art and Antique Dealers) and CINOA. CINOA is the world association of Art & Antique dealer associations. All LAPADA & CINOA members abide by their strict code of practice by adhering to reputable standards of quality, expertise and integrity.

Yola Gray has dealt in fine art and antique furniture for over 45 years. Yola Gray has a special interest in colonial furniture, specifically colonial four poster beds. Yola Gray also provides a variety of fine English antique furniture, art and fabrics to clients in the UK, Europe and further afield.

Please visit the Yola Gray website at www.yolagray.com for further items and information.

Product Code: 116062

Object History

History of the Office Chair:

An office chair, or desk chair, is a type of chair that is designed for use at a desk in an office. It is usually a swivel chair, with a set of wheels for mobility and adjustable height. Modern office chairs typically use a single, distinctive load bearing leg (often called a gas lift), which is positioned underneath the chair seat. Near the floor this leg spreads out into several smaller feet, which are often wheeled and called casters.

Before the nineteenth century, most of the global workforce was employed in agrarian labour—an “office chair” was only relevant for the wealthy, government officials and academics. In fact, Charles Darwin is the earliest known adopter of a proto-office chair, grafting wheels onto a normal chair in the 1840s so he could swivel between specimens. It goes without saying that this was a fairly uncommon use case.

This was the first time in history that productivity accrued on a mass scale from people sitting indoors. As white-collar workers became a crucial economic resource for the first time, their bosses began to recognize the value of making them comfortable.

The “Centripetal Office Chair”, designed by the inventor Thomas Warren and launched by the American Chair Company in 1851 at the Great Exhibition in London. An example of this office chair now sits in the Brooklyn Museum.

Office chairs were developed around the mid-19th century onwards, as more workers spent their shifts sitting at a desk, leading to the adoption of several features not found on other chairs.

The Hillcrest mechanism, often found on early 20th-century (Edwardian to 1950’s) British oak or mahogany office chairs, is a, robust, patented, iron, screw-and-spring assembly that allows for 360-degree rotation, height adjustment, and tilting/reclining. Typically stamped with a “Hillcrest, Registered Trademark, W.H.F., England” label, these, durable mechanisms were designed for, heavy use, commonly featuring a central, threaded, screw, for, adjusting, chair, height.

Then came the railroad, the advent of manufacturing, and the Industrial Revolution. As the traditional model of labour was upended, more administrative workers were needed for logistical coordination and bookkeeping, and the concept of general and administrative workers was born. Businesses empowered by rail access in scaling and expanding to new markets employed more and more people—creating a cadre of middle managers.

Object Condition

Condition Report:

This is a fine quality antique English George V solid oak armless revolving armless desk chair, with an upholstered tan-brown leather seat, circa 1920, which is in very good condition. Oak was a popular timber of choice for utility office chairs, owing to the natural strength of grain in functional furniture. The small desk chair seat is upholstered in tan-brown leather, which is finished with hand-tacked brass studs to the perimeter. Some age-related old use marks to the leather, but nothing significant considering its age. The adjustable height mechanism is in good working order, having been cleaned and restored. There is some play to the English Hillcrest revolving mechanism but this is perfectly acceptable, and in line with the age of the chair. The English antique desk chair boasts a rich dark-brown colour, having been cleaned and French polished by hand, to a professional standard, in our workshop. This desk chair is solid in joint and ready to use.

Object Details