Posted 11 years ago
GeorgetheV…
(3 items)
Found this with a free sign on it in front of someone's house.
It's made of oak and looks like someone started to strip it but never finished. The old padding is made of straw and springs.
Any ideas about the age of this rocker?
I plan on cleaning and refinishing it.
Nice looking old chair and the springs and stuffing may be the answer to the age. Metal was pretty scarce during the war years. I wouldn't claim it is oak unless I was positive. Some of it resembles oak and parts of it say ash the underside where as near as I can see from the pictures is even more open grain and lighter color like butternut. There is a great deal of furniture out there that is sold as oak when it is actually ash. They are difficult to tell apart. Butternut is easier because of the open grain and color. Find an old sofa with springs and cut it open and you will find a butternut frame. Oak was gobbled up for what was expensive furniture and ash was substituted for less expensive items because of the similarities. Believe it or not many pieces made of ash are worth more than their oak counter part. That is why it would be wise to be sure. We have 28 different species of hardwoods in our shop and your pictures give me cause to pause. Perhaps you could get another opinion before you try to refinish the piece. Obviously the seat needs help but touching it may devalue it for a future owner.
Thanks for the info. I'll check with an expert before I touch!
There is a signature under on the side in pencil that says John S 60.
I think that might mean 1860?
Quite possible, it may also be a style number, shipping number or inspection number. It could have also been refitted by John previously. Signing work in pencil on the underside is quite common for a re-fitter but not at all common from the origin. Kind of like the coin under the threshold when a house was built years ago. Jewelers sign the inside of a watch when they repair it. Carpenters, cabinet makers etc. are the same. The writing in pencil doesn't hold true to having been done when it was originally made. If it happens to be the builder then it was probably a home shop on a limited budget. That would be hard to trace but not impossible if you can get some background on the origin or even region the chair came from.
I found the chair in Sandwich Ma, on Cape Cod
Style/ appearance would put this 1890s- 1920, so I would think that the "60" would mean something other than "1860"
scott
Scottvez, Thanks for the info! George