I have a labeled Horner Hall or Throne chair (sometimes referred to as Savranola or “X”-Chair) and I have three other unlabeled chairs that share similar traits, so I’ll document how I would come to the conclusion that they are all by the Horner shop.  I wish I could give you a recipe for identifying Horner Hall Trees, dining room sets, etc. but for the moment I will focus on these style chairs alone.

I don’t have much information on these chairs to know whether they were Horner manufactured or just distributed by the company.  Prominently on every Horner label is a mention that they were makers and importers.  Years ago I also read a claim that a certain “School” (TR School?) made these for Horner, but that information was on a fleeting Ebay chair auction and a Google today on those keywords turns up nothing.

The Comparisons

The starting point for making the attribution is the “reference chair” and it’s original label that provides, in my mind, the basis of identifying the others as being by Horner.  The label is located under the seat and looks properly aged like many others that I have seen.

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I purchased a chair a year or so ago at a local auction to go along with my Horner hall chairs. I had previously seen this chair attributed to R.J. Horner and, considering the griffin carvings, I never thought twice about that attribution (like I now instinctively do with everything). It turns out that it was made by the Robert Michell Furniture Co. around 1904 as it is in their catalog that I recently acquired (image above). It is their model #66-1334a, “Roman Arm Chair”, solid mahogany, $74. It was also available as #66-1334 in quartered Oak, golden or “Antwerp” finish, $64 (I wonder what Antwerp implies color-wise). The upholstered seat was covered in leather. Mine is below.

The griffin arms and the finials on the chair are distinctively carved and you will see these elements independent of one another on other pieces and these can help distinguish Robert Mitchell pieces. There is a possibility that R.J. Horner made these chairs for Robert Mitchell and I leave that possibility out there, but barring any new evidence beyond this catalog, I will heretofore assume they were produced by Mitchell.

By the way, Robert Mitchell is one and the same as the Mitchell from Mitchell & Rammelsberg. The company was renamed Robert Mitchell Co. in 1881. Robert Mitchell biography.

The longer I research furniture, the more I see how dramatically lopsided attributions are made to the incorrect side. There is a pandemic in my mind to the point where attributions are getting worthless. Take a look at the following image from the same Robert Mitchell catalog. For those of you who follow R.J. Horner furniture, how many times have we seen this Mitchell table labeled Horner?

In one of my next few posts, I will show you how to identify an authentic R.J. Horner hall chair.

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