Questions on vintage turned chair

To all,

I have tried unsuccessfully to post my upholsterer's in-progress photos of this chair. I found an old wood chair (probably walnut) at an antique store. The upholstery was so old and gross that I drove it straight to the upholstery shop. It was not the original upholstery (there were a lot of nail holes) but the seat cushion was apparently stuffed with straw. I got a great deal on the chair but of course the reupholstery is $$.

A few things caught my eye about the chair. On the end of each arm is a vertical knob (finial?).

What is this thing?





As you can see the arms are "closed" with upholstery.
This is the close up of the carving on the back. Again, is this a finial?





Close up of foot and stretcher. There are carvings/incisions on the stretcher and on the top of the chair, as seen above.

What is the age and origin of this chair? American? English? The antique dealer told me he bought it from an estate in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, and that he guessed it was walnut. He had no estimate on its age.

Would you call this spool-turned? I have barley twist furniture and these are not twists, but stacks.

It is now nice and comfy. It is at work, so I wanted a fabric that was light (to show off the wood) and durable, and slightly modern.

I've been antiquing for years but have never seen anything like this chair. It is larger than many of my antique chairs, but smaller than my throne chairs. The seat cushion is 19" from the ground.

Thank you, all.

 

It's what I'd call Late Victorian Wacky, but that's just me. Brad will probably be along in a minute with the formal name.

 

Id say 1920s-30s .

 

Edwardian Wacky?

Stately and clean.
I like it.

 

Tudor Revival.

Debora

 

I think 1860s or so spool chair. Just starting to see some renaissance revival influence there in the detailing. Spool furniture had two periods of popularity in the US. Mid 19th century and again in the 1920s-30s. This is from the earlier period. It was not necessarily high end furniture but popular with the masses and country folk. It is sometimes considered part of the "cottage" furniture of the era.

Ironically, I just toured a house museum built in 1872 with nearly all original furnishings intact. In the servant's quarters were spool beds that the tour guide said had originally been used by the owners in their much less lavish previous house. They had "new" high end renaissance revival furniture in their part of the house.

 

Thank you all. The uprights where the hands go on the arms of the chair are quite unusual.