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Expert: - 2/26/2009


Question

Chair Photos
Dear Mr. Miller:
I have been corresponding with Eileen Cronk (Antiques & Collectibles) at AllExperts.com in an attempt to identify a chair that my husband picked up for $6.00 at an auction. He loves it and wants to recover it, I am reluctant to do much with it until I know more about it. I wrote to Ms. Cronk, and she's about as baffled as I am as to the period and style of this crazy old chair. She suggested that I write to you and include some photos of the chair, including the spring portion. She thought that possibly you could identify this type of spring and during what period this type of spring was utilized. I am attaching those photos and hope that you can give me some kind of information about what type of chair this is and possibly its age. I'm also copying the correspondence between Ms. Cronk and myself to you. Any help would greatly appreciated.

Copy of Emails:

Your Question was:

QUESTION: Hello, Eileen:

My husband brought this chair home from an auction. Frankly, I don't know if I love it or hate it. I have several questions, but mainly I would like to know what style of chair this is.I can find no markings of any sort on it to give me clues as to its maker. I've searched and searched the internet and haven't seen any like it. Also, is it worth reupholstering, or should I leave it in its original condition? I don't think I could find an upholsterer out there who would be willing to reproduce all that tacking. I would really appreciate anything you could tell me about this chair.

Sincerely,
Kathryn A. Streets
IMAGE: Mystery Chair1

ANSWER: Hi Kathryn
Nice to hear from you.
Gosh this is an unusual style chair.
The condition of the covering tells me that the chair is either fairly new or it has been recently been recovered.
I think the covering is recent.
I am also thinking this chair was made for resturant seating.
Kind of off the wall styling like some of the Art Deco styles.
The only way to get an idea of the age is to remove the dust cover which is on the bottom. While you are doing that, check out what kind of tacks or staples are holding the cover.
When you have this off the springs will be visible. Describe them to me.
Also look to see if the wood frame looks like new wood or has it darkly aged.
You may also find a label on the interior.
Get back to me.
Regards
Eileen







---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again, Eileen:

When I first looked at the chair, I too thought it was relatively new. But on closer inspection, I found that the Naugahyde covering originally had a sort of a pattern to it, I'll say it somewhat resembles a grain like effect. Then, on the areas where you would normally expect to find wear, I found that this pattern was completely rubbed away. I've included photos to illustrate this for you. When I turned the chair over, there was no dust cover for me to remove. There were only bits of the original dust cover under the tacks (not staples!)securing the Naugahyde. I can't really tell if the wood inside the chair is aged or not. I've also included a picture of this for you. The padding or filler (note the hole in the burlap) seems to be that older horse hair type of thing, doesn't it?

I must say that I'm completely flummoxed about this chair. First I think it's new, but then it can't possibly be, because of the wear on the top and arms. And then there is the tack trim...these look like older brass tacks, and there's dust and dirt under them. Yikes! I don't know what to think. As I told you, I've looked everywhere for something that resembled this chair and have found nothing.

Okay...what do YOU think?  And thanks for any input you can give me.

Sincerely,
Kathy

Following is the reason:

Hi Again Kathy
Pictures were great.
I am answering this way because if I don't I will have to answer each of your letters separately. This way I will call the others duplicate and save time.
First off the chair is older.
The springs tell me this.
What we need to find out is when this type of spring came into use.
We have an expert in upholstery who may help with that.
Here is a link to him.
http://www.allexperts.com/ep/1468-64/Cabinets-Furniture-Woodworks/Mark-H-Miller....
This is really an unusual chair so don't do a thing to it until more info is known.
Do you have a PC program that will allow you to combine two of your pictures?
It would be great if you could send Mr Miller a picture of the entire chair combined with the picture of the entire chair underneath.
Perhaps he can ID it or has seen similar.

Answer
Hi,

The pictures are very small,  from what I can see here are my finding.

The chair is typical mass produced furniture from the 60's,  the springs are no-sag sometimes, incorrectly, called zig-zag springs.  They are one step below hand tied coil springs, no-sag springs are still commonly used today.
The hair padding is hog hair called "rubberized hair"  it is no longer in use today since it is highly flammable and toxic.  

There may be staples or tacks since the chair was manufactured during the period when some factories were still using tacks before switching to staples.

There may never have been a dust cover to save labor costs and the rubberized hair acts as a dust barrier.

The frame is most likely hardwood, double doweled and of good quality, nice to have.

It is not a particular style.

I hope this information helps.

Mark Miller.


Hi again,

I was able to enlarge the pictures and better able to judge what I see.

I'd like to revise my original finding,  there may not be rubberized hair, in the larger pictures I can clearly see there is burlap.  There may be a spring cushion on top of the no-sag springs.

None of that is important,  there is no value in the upholstery, the springs or anything else except the frame.

It is the frame that causes me to write again.  It's actually quite spectacular,  the reason I say that is because of the curves on the back.  A frame with this many curves takes a tremendous amount of wood to make, no longer done today,  you may notice that furniture today has far fewer curves.  

In my opinion, the chair is very difficult to upholster,  it's not an antique not of a particular period but very high-end quality,  I'd love to have it,  well worth investing money to have it properly upholstered by a professional,  don't attempt to upholster it yourself it's very difficult to do because of all the curves,  you made an excellent buy.

Mark Miller.

Here's another p.s. to my first writing,  the more I see of the chair the better I like it.  FYI if you were to have the frame copied today by a frame maker your cost would be about $ 500 just for the frame.
Another 6 to 700 labor for upholstering plus another 5 to 600 for leather, it's about a $2000 chair new.  It should be done in leather, you may notice there are no seams,  I also forgot to mention that no-sag springs first came about in the 1930's, I am convinced however that your chair dates to around the mid 60's.  I doubt was ever used as restaurant furniture although I too first thought it could have been.  I think it always was high-end, it certainly is now.

Would I myself have bought the chair for $6 you paid for it,  absolutely, real fast !!!  With a big smile.   

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have further questions.  

Mark Miller.

Mark H. Miller

Expertise

custom furniture upholsterery. Became journeyman custom upholsterer in 1969. Certified by Upholsterers Intl. Union. Worked at San Francisco`s most prestigious upholstering shop as senior upholsterer. Am now president of Domar Upholstered Furniture Inc. Have upholstered for Presidents Reagan, Nixon, Clinton and the Queen of England. formerly taught classes in custom upholstering at the San Francisco Community College. Happy to answer all your upholstering questions.

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