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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: SLONG1958 on February 20, 2013, 09:24:13 AM
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Hi everyone
My wife and I found this chair sitting at the curb waiting on the trash truck to pick it up.Can anybody on here tell me anything about how old the chair might be. If more pics and needed please let me know.
Thanks
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zpsd01FCC761.jpg)
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/b1047b03-5c02-402d-ac12-e4a06448c777_zps3b77bea3.jpg)
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I would guess 1940s.
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Yessir !! 1940`s and is kind of transitional from the Empire revival style earlier !! Still has a few Empire features (arms) but is getting less ornate and heavy !!
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Thanks for the replies. I can't believe someone threw this away.
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Check the ends of those arms !! Looks like the ends of the handrest maybe have been broken or taken off !! Many of these would have either rounded and curled under handrests or paw like handrests !!
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Thanks for the replies. I can't believe someone threw this away.
I could...not much burning in it mind you.... ;D
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Pretty sure those handrests have been cut off !! They would not have stopped that close to the support !!
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To me it looks like a fireside chair..that someone decided to make into a rocker..those curved bits of wood look affy puny....
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Here's a few more pics.Its a very good possibility that the arms have been cut off,but chair still looks pretty good.
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zps8e602150.jpg)
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zpsf5abd66f.jpg)
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/image_zpsb3b52c02.jpg)
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Yes they have been shortened and one of the rockers looks like it was damaged too !! You can see the cut marks where someone took a knife and tried to reshape them !! This style furniture was not popular after its production time was over !! You can still find it at flea markets and thrift stores pretty cheap !! However,, your price was right and you might put a little work into it and have a comfortable rocker !! Recovering these is pretty easy but the springs under the seat are the pits to work with !! They are usually the band type that run side to side !!
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The springs are missing ,what does a band spring look like.
Thanks
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Can`t remember the proper name but I will try to find a pic for you tomorrow !!
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I'll have to dig around my old photos to see if I have a clear shot of the old rocker in my aunt and uncles farmhouse. Believe it or not this looks to be almost it's twin. It had stubby arms and rockers just like this. You couldn't curl your hand under at all without hitting the support but it was nice not to have those rocker ends to stub your toes on. Pretty sure it was never tampered with though.
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My grandmother had one with armrests that were too short to curl your hand under as well Mart. And it was carved similar to this....so This could honestly have been made this way!!!!
As for the chair turned rocker...I would need to see a few more pics. I do know that happened often to chairs! and know that many a rocker was turned into a sitting chair.
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The springs are missing ,what does a band spring look like.
Thanks
(http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v2/604984205/Recliner_chair_springs_for_seat.jpg)
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I,m still holding the thought that its been a chair that,s had rockers added..not that i,m a Rocker expert...well,not this kind of rocker...but most rockers i,ve seen have had a higher back...this one does,nt..i,d like to see a pic from underneath..further more..the fact that the seat is sprung...is telling me that it has been converted...any rockers i,ve seen have had a solid seat....the whole purpose of a rocker is to rock backwards/forwards...but with this one it,ll be backwards/forwards and upwards...Na...its a chair... ;D
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I,m still holding the thought that its been a chair that,s had rockers added..not that i,m a Rocker expert...well,not this kind of rocker...but most rockers i,ve seen have had a higher back...this one does,nt..
Bigwull, me thinks I agree with you on the added rockers.
They look to me to be a wee too short in the front (portion past the leg).
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You,ve hit the nail on the head Cogar...rocking in that chair would be hazardous to one,s well being...and if the back rocker is as short as the front..you,d either be flat on yer back..or flat on your face...and that normally only happens when you,ve had too much ale....well to me any way... ;D
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The chair needs refinishing but that's something I've never done. What the best and easiest way to do this.I'll post a few more pics a little later.
Again thanks for all the help.
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Thanks Cogar !! The hand rests though are flat in the center, then look around the edges,, you can see knife marks where the sharp edges were trimmed !! Its only missing the ends !! Where the grooves in the top would extend forward a bit forming a trifid paw like handrest !!
Denatured alcohol and 0000 steel wool will take the old finish off the same as Formby`s does and much cheaper !! Use it the same way !!
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Here's some bottom pics.
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zpsccac82b5.jpg)
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zps26963b5b.jpg)
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zps3aaa3ab7.jpg)
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zps1e163040.jpg)
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The rocker is the correct length at the rear..but the front is too short...fast forward motion would turn this into an ejector seat... ;D...and looking at the means of fixing there must only be a dowel at the front..
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Thats the way many of these were made,, and these look like the original rockers !! The padded and upholstered back balanced the weight !! Besides ,, who rocks forward ?? When I was a kid I learned that you only push back with your feet and the chair will take care of the forward motion !!
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You answered your own question...there,s no rocking back without going forward...therefore if you,re pushing backwards to rock where can it go afterwards ...but forwards...but those short rockers at the front would prohibit you from going anywhere ..but on yer moosh.... ;D
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One of the rockers was damaged but couldn`t see how bad,, other one looked OK I think !! They may have been shortened but they haven`t been replaced from what I could see !!
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The only logical reason for sawing a bit off the front..would be ...for ole grandpappy or grandma...to propel themselves out of the chair on the forward stroke...a good push back..then whoosh...they were up and out...before they landed face down....Don,t you just love my explanations..... ;D ;D ;D ;
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LOL !! Or the dog chewed it !! Tha happened a lot !!
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Rught you are, Bigwull, when ya get old, feeble and/or a little overweight, ya gotta get your butt higher than your knees fore you can get your behind in the air.
And a soft-padded or spring-cushioned "seat" is the worstest kind to try standing up from.
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ya gotta get your butt higher than your knees fore you can get your behind in the air.
Not in these chairs you wouldn`t !! LOL
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Which brings us back to...was it made like this.i...or is it a homemade jobby...well.I think ...its a Bitsa.... ;D...and you,d be wasting yer hard earned $$...doing it up...chop it up for firewood... ;D
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ya gotta get your butt higher than your knees fore you can get your behind in the air.
Not in these chairs you wouldn`t !! LOL
Well then, if not, there sure is a lot of money being wasted on these items by every health care facility in the US, UK, etc., to wit:
(http://www.beaucaremedical.co.uk/uploads/images/products/81ysxnliv1n0.jpg)
http://www.beaucaremedical.co.uk/hoists--patient-handling/handling-belts (http://www.beaucaremedical.co.uk/hoists--patient-handling/handling-belts)
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LOL !! Right !!
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Hey guys just wondering if the chair would be worth fixing up. I've taken the chair apart and there is no evidence of it every having springs and it must have had 200 tacks holding the material on. Also the chair is out of alignment. I figured the chair would have been made a little bit better than what it is. All but one corner brace was just about to come off.
Thanks
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zpsdccc6f37.jpg)
There is a real heavy piece of canvas in place of springs.
(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/NOVA1958/Antique%20furniture/image_zps5eaac4fb.jpg)
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My honest opinion....Bin it....OK its not eaten any of your corn....but its about to....the stuffing which in my opinion should not have been there is coir which is coconut fibre....any old rockers i,ve seen...apart from the biker kind...have had hard seats and high backs, longer rocker at the front...with this one being out of line, or squint as i would say, means you you will have to strip it down to the bare bones and start again...and you will need large clamps when you come to glue it all back together....