The iron work has fabulous patina and is completely untouched since new. The leather also showing great signs of patina and no attempt has been made to remove any marks that have occurred over time. I originally bought these as dining chairs for myself but unfortunately my husband prefers seats with arms. When I originally acquired them I had an expert in leather restoration take a look at them with a view to trying to remove the minor stains and to look at small areas that I thought would need attention such as very slight cracking, a few cuts in the underside leather and where the leather has slightly come away from the frame. He was adamant that I did not attempt to rectify any of what I thought were issues as he explained that these were all part of the history of the chairs. The leather seats and backs are made up of two pieces of leather and are all double stitched. All this stitching is still intact. Where the leather has come away very slightly from the frame this is in the corners and beyond the double stitching so has no effect on the sturdiness of the chairs. This leather could be glued back onto the frame but I was again told to leave well alone so as not to affect the integrity of the chairs. Any slight cracking was due to the leather being quite dry when I bought them. Under his guidance I applied very sympathetically Mink Oil then Buffalo conditioning luxury intensive cream which has given the leather the most wonderful rich depth of colour again. One of things that mystified me most when I bought them was what looked like a couple of cuts to the leather on the underside piece of leather on one of chairs. I couldn’t work out how this could have happened, he believed that when the chairs were originally made by skilled artisans (his words) the piece of leather used on the underside already had the cuts in it but is not in an area that jeopardises the chair’s strength and durability so was used rather than being wasted.The leather was worth too much in those days to waste any!  Interesting explanation and one that I quite like and am willing to accept.

So all in all I think these are a very desirable set of chairs, I have tried to take photos of all the issues I have mentioned but very happy to provide more or you are welcome to view. There is only one crack on the upper side of one seat, see photos. Again as the leather is doubled up this does not weaken the seat in any way so again I was told to leave alone.

I have tried to be very honest and open in my description of these chairs, having said that on first glance, indeed after several glances none of the issues I have mentioned will even be noticeable. One’s first impression on seeing this set of chairs will be “wow how cool are those chairs!”

One other very important characteristic of these chairs is the folding mechanism. When they are fully folded together they are able to stand up on their own and when folded back down are incredibly sturdy and strong. Amazing chairs.

My starting bid is the lowest I am able to accept on these chairs, if you are lucky enough to get them for this price then I think you will have done very well. I’m pretty certain these would have a very hefty price tag if being sold in a London antique / interiors shop. 

These chairs are heavy and extremely well made.