Posted 2 years ago
dav2no1
(836 items)
1800s Marble and Shattuck Chair
Circa: 1885 - 1894
Material: Quarter Sawn Oak (very figurative grain, looks like a Van Gogh painting with a human skull on the left)
I haven't posted much lately because it's summer time, so hot rods and yard work have consumed my time lately. This was an exciting find!
My sister was having a garage sale next door. I had a few items there and noticed she had a few chairs. My sister had this in their guest room for a long time. She had $1 on this and was going to put it in the free pile. I was like, "NO!" That's a nice chair. She had no idea what she had!
I look at it and it has 2 original labels attached(underneath was a partial label). A quick search revealed some chairs selling for a few hundred dollars. This style didn't match up with the chairs that I saw online. And all those had the tiger medallion, including one that was posted on CW years ago.
I contacted a gentleman at the Bedford Historical Society and after a few moments I learned a few things. I have sent him pictures today, haven't heard back yet.
The Marble and Shattuck Chair Company was founded in 1885 and in 1894 changed names to B.L. Marble Company. So he stated this has to before 1894(at least 128 years old!).
INTERESTING DETAILS
The seat is amazing! Looks like a Van Gogh painting and even has grain that looks like a human skull on the left side. This is quarter sawn oak that has very figurative grain. I wiped the seat with some mineral spirits and I'm waiting for more information before I remove any patina.
I noticed the label under the seat has a green fleck background. I also noticed that the Marble and Shattuck has the S(can't see the M) capitalized with the rest in lower case, but the rest of the label is in upper case..strange. unfortunately the style number is missing.
The back label almost looks like an applied or painted piece. From what I read, they used several different labels and markings..
This chair has 5 splats vs other chairs with 6 splats. Only saw one other online that had 5 splats and it was titled as a 1920-30s chair on Charish site and had medallion badge.
Hope the historical society can give me an exact date and find this in the catalogs.
The Marble and Shattuck Chair Company History...
https://bedfordohiohistory.org/the-marble-shattuck-chair-company-history
Well, *I* would have gladly given your sister $10 for it . . . ??
;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)
Indeed, a GREAT summer find and a GORGEOUS oak chair -- with some history even, so's all the better!! <cheers><applause>
~{=£•>
I was pretty happy. I showed her the seat after I wiped it with some mineral oil and she was happy I saved the chair...
The wood grain design in the seat is really awesome, nice save
Thank you for the comments and loves!
Natures art..... nice
I guess art can be for
sitting and written
(not writing)
dav2no1, To think that this beautiful thing almost ended up on the free pile at a garage sale. >8-0
I'm not sure why I let it sit there all 3 days before taking it home. Even if it didn't have any labels it's a nice chair. Now that I now it's about 130 years old +/-, makes it even better. The figurative grain is just beautiful. Glad my sister didn't try to paint it. She an artist and does a lot of furniture.
Great chair Dave!! I love the grain of the oak.
dav2no1, You were probably busy either landscaping or hot rodding. };-)
The important thing is that you saved the chair in time.
Yours is a lovely chair - such a "soft" look - so happy you saved it! Do you know its history?
Sorry about the blurry pic - the medallion is pretty small. My chair is definitely Marble & Shattuck (Cleveland). I worked at the company this came from (Penn Mutual) for about 23 years. A truly old fashioned company. One of the best things was that there really was a "free lunch" and this was one of the chairs. We were assigned seating - I think 5 to a table - and we had waitress service. Full hot meal (with dessert) each day. You cold always substitute a salad or soup. The Executive dining room was similar but with more choices and hand dipped ice cream! When the company moved to the suburbs they sold off most of the furniture. The other chair I posted is a "side or visitors chair" from one of the Executive offices. A friend of mine has a book case and a library table and 4 of these chairs. We both also have leaded glass doors and windows that came from the old Employee Recreation Room (there were pool and card tables, a library and, big leather couches for napping!) Life was good!
Wow...where can I find a job like this? That sounds amazing...I'd definitely playing lots of pool!