Posted 10 years ago
Mesing2uc
(2 items)
I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this rocker. It has been in my husbands' family for probably 100 years and belonged to his grandmother. His mother grew up with this same rocker as well.....she would have been at least 84 years old today. My husband remembers seeing it as a kid at his grandma's house and he would sit and rock in it when he went to visit. I don't see any writing or markings on it, however it has what I consider an evil-looking face engraved on it. Lol I'm assuming that it is a ram's head, not sure. I love this rocker as I can tell it is very old and unique and is in very good condition for its age. I just wish I knew more about it, if anyone knows please comment. Thanks!
0 so .sweeettttttttttttt ;-)
This isn't unusual. It is commonly called the face chair and is not hand carved it is a double press (one of the first double press). The crest board was done with a stencil and probably this would be a Lambert Hitchcock. Certainly looks like it.
You will find it exactly as you show it. Nice old chair.
I've been looking up the Lambert Hitchcock and the face chair and so far haven't found anything like my chair (not saying it isn't, I just can't find anything). However, I just found one that has the exact same face but it says it's a renaissance revival chair but I don't think it is that either. Here is that chair http://en.allexperts.com/q/Collectibles-General-Antiques-682/2011/8/rocking-chair-24.htm
I believe my grandparents had an identical one.
Hi, Mesing2uc. :-)
I'm pretty late to the party, but I found another (no provenance, but perhaps you could contact the web site owner:
https://discoverypub.com/feature/0116_PressBackChairs/face-edit.jpg
*snip*
Of course the "face chair" movement was a prime beneficiary of the press back technology. Mythological creatures could now be instantly transferred to chair backs without all that tedious carving.
*snip*
https://discoverypub.com/feature/0116_PressBackChairs/index.html
The same shot shows up on this website:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2012_0305_face.jpg
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/columns-and-international/fred-taylor/furniture-specific-press-back-decoration-sans-carving/
However, it's attributed to the same person, Fred Taylor.
Here's another with the same motif described as Old Man Winter:
https://www.bargainjohn.com/product/oak-armed-office-chair-old-man-winter-carved-face/
Fred Taylor again:
https://www.worthpoint.com/articles/collectibles/press-back-art-chair-decoration
So I'm thinking you should contact him:
Fred and Gail Taylor
For more information call 800-387-6377 (9am-4pm Eastern, M-F only), fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info@furnituredetective.com.