Antique Pair English Victorian Leather Armchairs c.1880

Mahogany 
is probably one of the largest ‘families’ of hardwood, having many different varieties within its own species.

Mahogany has been used for centuries in ship building, house building, furniture making etc and is the core structure of just about every 19th century vanity box, dressing case or jewellery box. It became more of a Victorian trend to dress mahogany with these decorative veneers, such as kingwood, burr walnut and coromandel, so tha,t the actual mahogany was almost hidden from view.

Mahogany itself is a rich reddish brown wood that can range from being plain in appearance to something that is so vibrant, figured and almost three dimensional in effect. 

Although Mahogany was most often used in its solid form, it also provided some beautifully figured varieties of veneer like ‘Flame’ Mahogany and ‘Fiddleback’ Mahogany (named after its preferred use in the manufacture of fine musical instruments).

Cuban Mahogany was so sought after, that by the late 1850′s, this particular variety became all but extinct.
 

Scottish leather
These chairs are upholstered in top quality Scottish cow hide which has been hand dyed and antiqued.  Because they are hand dyed we can finish the leather to the required colour, and the beautiful antique patina is achieved by the  special walnut based stains that we use in the process.

The studding is achieved with close individual studs not by using strips, and each nail is individually hammered in by hand.