Posted 5 years ago
Grr8ful
(1 item)
Not a northwind i dont think but have not been able to solve. Wooden with mans carved face on back rest. 5 spindles from back reat to seat. Psuedo claw arm ends. Never seen before but similar to a barrel chairwith mans carved face.
Looks exactly like a Northwind chair from what I can see.
Picture doesn't enlarge but an original north wind chair would show his breath. There are many variations, to many to begin to list. This chair is machine made so I would question the age of it.
Interesting comment on machine made. The whole chair or the face carving? What gives that away?
Well the spindles were made on a spindle machine. The seat is a laminated seat as opposed to a slab seat. The carving on the crest board (from what I can see) was done with we now call a rotocrafter. Years ago they used an original carved face, then attached a router or rotary tool to a special pantograph and were able to perfectly reproduce the face.
I still use the old pantograph system to enlarge items in both wood and soapstone or slate but use a Dremel with a cable extension and diamond burr cutter.
I see the appraisal section of this app shows North Wind chairs before and they did not show the breath, it would be nice if they did, but most do not show breath at all.
PhilDMorris It has gotten so people use the term for any chair that comes close to a north wind. I have seen antique dealers advertise gargoyle chairs as north wind chairs. Others show the figure with his mouth shut or even with fangs. That is why in my original post I said there are many variations and people misuse the term.
I have the exact same chair! It has a sticker on the bottom that is partially turn but I can read the words Michigan and Grand Rapids and Chairs & Tables. Did you ever solve this mystery?