The condition of lots can vary widely and the nature of the lots sold means that they are unlikely to be in a perfect condition. Lots are sold in the condition they are in at the time of sale.

Country house condition, would benefit from sympathetic restoration.
Re-decorated with later gloss paint with traces of several layers of decoration beneath and some dirt and marks to the painted surface and some chips and flaking to the paintwork, particularly to the extremities.
Apparently previously nailed along top edge of front rail.
Chips to the carving.
Re-caned with a tear to the caning to the front right of the seat.
The feet possibly slightly reduced in height.
Ready to place.

The Painted Decoration:
The chair has been painted eleven times, initially with quite bright colours, and more recently with neutral tones. Nine of those paint schemes contained lead white, so predate 1950.
The original decoration comprised a coat of white oil paint containing a few small particles of red lead that was applied to the wood, followed by a dark green glaze based on a copper pigment. The copper glaze may have been fragile, and was easily cleaned off when the Chair was eventually repainted, as it was only found in one sample of paint analysis taken from the chair. In the other samples, only the white ground layer was present. The green scheme was replaced with a light blue, based on Prussian blue and lead white.The third scheme saw the chair painted red and given a coat of varnish. The red pigment was a pure red iron oxide.For the fourth scheme the red was replaced with an oak graining scheme. The build-up of layers with white ground ochre undercoat, brown gaze and final varnish is typical of nineteenth-century technique.Schemes five to eight comprised buff, or cream-coloured paint, all based on lead white. The final one was varnished.The ninth scheme was a greyish white paint, based on lead white and zinc white. This combination of pigments was common in the early twentieth century.
Schemes ten and eleven comprise two white schemes, both based on titanium dioxide white and therefore applied after circa 1950.