The sight of an old rocking chair on a veranda or in the lounge room next to the fire evokes thoughts of people rocking away at their leisure, relaxing and letting the world pass by.  Rocking chairs in some form or another have been around since the early 15th century and have come a long way since the first wooden chairs where adapted to fit two curved wooden rails to form a crude wooden rocking chair.  Today rocking chairs come in a range of different styles from the more traditional wooden rocking chairs to the more modern glider rocking chairs which use a metal gliding system to provide the rocking movement of the chair.

The history of the rocking chair is not known exactly but it is documented that rocking chairs where around in Europe during the 15th century.  These early attempts at rocking chairs where crude designs with rails fitted to normal chairs.  The first actual rocking chairs were thought to have been produced again in Europe in the mid to late 18th century.  One of the most popular model of rocking chair was the Windsor which was named after Windsor castle in England.  American furniture makers made their own design and style based on the early Windsor rocking chairs from Europe.

An antique rocking chair can be sourced from both Europe and America with brands such as Windsor, Boston rocker, Grecian rocker and the Lincoln rocker which is another name for the Grecian rocker that was used by president Lincoln.  Nearly all of these brands of rocking chairs are crafted out of wood as with most of the furniture that was produced during this time.

When shopping for an antique rocking chair there are a number of things to look for to help you identify the real antiques from the copies.  Identification of the chairs is done much the same way as identifying antique furniture in general.  On assessment of the antique rocking chair it is important to check for wear on the arm rests and where the seat joins the back rest, these areas should show some wear but should still be in good condition.  There should also be wear on the rockers from the movement of the chair but these too should be in relatively good condition.

Antique rocking chairs can be sourced from many places such as antique shops, the internet, garage and clearance sales as well as auctions.  The price ranges for the rocking chairs will be dependent on the condition of the chair as well as the demand for these items of furniture.