Hall furniture is the furniture made for, or traditionally placed in, the entrance hall of a house, the first room seen by visitors. Typical pieces include hall chairs, hall benches and settles, hall stands, umbrella and stick stands, side tables, console tables, hall mirrors, coat racks, chests and lanterns.
In Georgian country houses the hall was a formal space, and hall chairs were deliberately hard, with solid wooden seats rather than upholstery, since they were intended for messengers and servants waiting to be received. Their backs were often painted with the family crest or coat of arms. In the Victorian period the hall stand became the centrepiece of the middle-class hallway, combining coat hooks, a mirror, umbrella and stick divisions, a drip tray and sometimes a small drawer for gloves and brushes; cast iron and oak examples were made in large numbers. Buyers should consider the strength and stability of pieces that will see constant use, along with the quality of carving and the condition of mirror glass and drip trays. Today a pair of hall chairs, a console table or a bench brings period character to an entrance while providing a practical home for keys, post and coats.
