Arts & Crafts Or Deco.. and who made these chairs?

Hi
New to this site and happy to be here. So, Hello all!
I come across all sorts of pieces of antique furniture, even when not out looking for it. I just seem to be a magnet for such items.
Any, I have this pair of matching chairs. In Oak with hinged backrests. They fold down and look as if they have had a jardiniere or two on them over the years. Can anyone tell me anything about which period they are from.. and a possible ID. I have owned and loved these chairs for more than 20 years… and I would love to know more about them.
Many thanks in advance.
Paul

 

Hi Paul!

Welcome to Antiquers...........

I can't help, but please use your Edit button and choose Full Image rather than "thumb". Easier to see............

 

Thank you for your help! Much appreciated!

 

any markings...?

 

They have a mission/prairie feel for me, so arts & crafts.

 

Agreed, as to styling.
I'm not yet convinced that they have much age beyond mid-20th century, though... how about some photos of the bottom and the joinery?

 

The chairs are arts and crafts/mission in style, though the point is valid as there could be said that hints of the arts and crafts design, through the jugendstil/Viena/Glasgow variety of art nouveau, can be found in the earler, more inspired, art deco.
Now for the chairs themselves, they are indeed attractive, but seem late and a bit light (regarding both, color and amount of wood present). Can't really say from the pictures, but If old they've been refinished (to their detriment). There wasn't a revival of the style until (relatively) recently, so you should be able to tell.

 

Seem to have some age to them but doubt they are period A&C (c. 1910). I see no logical reason for the backs to be hinged. Certainly odd.

 

They are not light as they seem. That was full on LED in the kitchen. Here they are in a naturally lit room.

An Args and Crafts specialist guy in the UK suggested that they may have been a custom bespoke order… a bit of a campaign style design? ..but who by? No one knows! No Marks to the underside, no telltale styling to the design. He mentioned Voysey.. which made me LOL!

 

Now, that's better. They are not so light in color after all, rather nice 'golden' in fact. The corner blocks seem screwed rather than pegged, which would point to a somewhat later, more assembly-line-ish production. 1920s, probably.
I see no reason for the hinged backs either. Maybe it was a set and three or four of them lined up together turned into a bed or something. I don't know.
They are odd, and for that, perhaps a little more interesting.

 

there are signs on the rear of one of the fold down backrests that it may have been used as a jardiniere stand. A large ring mark. I was going to refinish them, but with the hinged backs.. why not just accept that they would also make a great pair of stands. A metamorphic piece of furniture is always a little bit more interesting to me.
regardless of the period. They are going on one wall of my arts & crafts sitting room, with a nice Ernest Barnsley Cotswold school oak side table… and they fit right in.

thanks for you replies. Much appreciated!