Era of certain chairs

Al killian

Member
Messages
1,940
Location
Floydada, Tx
I am wndering if there is a website that has pics of chairs and when they where made? There are four chairs that I am refinishing and was wonder about there age.The are made from red oak, maybe QS. My guess would be around 1950's?
chairside.jpg

chairfront.jpg
 
Hi Al, my guess is a little earlier, perhaps 1930-40s or so. These chairs are pretty often matched to small dinning sets so they come in 4's, often with a small table and narrow buffet. Quite often the buffets are constructed of common stock and veneered to upgrade their appearance. This kept the prices low, allowing them to be within the reach of the common man.
The chairs are distinctly 'machine- made" and lack what we would consider a specific style showing elements of a variety of earlier styles like art deco but having saber rear legs and turned front legs with smooth rungs.. a real bag of styles. I've seen quite a few sets in soft maple which was easily worked as we know, readily available, cheap and could be finished in different tones. I haven't seen many in oak, but that may be more common regionally. There are a ton of these in 'cottage country', most with several layers of paint or that lovely graining paint so popular 30-40 years ago.
 
Top