We are a retired couple now in our early 80s, who have been collecting antiques, folk art, ethnographic and devotional objects, etc.
for over 60 years.
But now our situation has changed.
We recently sold our large retirement home and have moved into much smaller accommodations.
We find ourselves with a need to do some serious downsizing.
Too much stuff! It is time for us to help some of our objects find a new Happy Home.
This listing is for a matched set of American pressed back chairs.
One chair plus one matching rocking chair.
It is highly unusual to be able to acquire a matching set of chairs such as this these.
These are large chairs meant for the parlor, not the kitchen.
The design is elaborate and meant to be a bit showy.
The legs, arm and back supports, and the cross-braces are all made of elaborately shaped spindles.
The back support is a combination of gracefully shaped cross-supports, smaller spindles, elaborate fretwork, and the die-pressed design elements that give the chairs their name.
The chairs are made of solid oak.
Structurally and cosmetically, the chairs are in excellent condition.
Please look at the photos carefully.
The Holiday Season is here.
This chair set would make an unusual gift for a special person, or it could be an end of the year treat for yourself.
Thank you for viewing.
The Pressed Back Chair – Background Information:
The urge to decorate plain surfaces appears to be a universal human trait that reflects an innate desire to create and display “art”.
In 17th century New England Colonial America hand carving wooden chests and furniture was both a way to satisfy this aesthetic urge, and a display of luxury that subtly advertised the owner’s financial well-being.
In the following century, Yankee ingenuity and entrepreneurship led to the use of standardized design elements and furniture components, and large workshops with each worker performing the same task repetitively on endless lines of chairs.
But even with all the standardization of designs, parts, tools, and labor, the cost to turn out a finished piece of furniture that included hand-carved designs still placed it beyond the reach of many potential customers.
But that would change.
In the 1800s along came low-cost process that could produce elaborate designs on chair parts without hand carving.
And to many, the finished product looked as if it had been hand-carved.
The process? The steel die stamp.
A design with sharp edges was etched into a metal plate.
That plate was mounted on a roller and under great pressure was passed over a waiting chair crest rail that had been precut to shape and steam-bent to match the curve on the roller.
The result was a perfect impression of the etching that was literally pressed into the wood, giving the effect of a three-dimensional carving.
Thus began the great era of the “press back” chair in American furniture.
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