Old Rocker

Hello! Can anyone offer any insight about this antique rocker as to its’ age/manufacture? It appears to be very old and has seen a significant amount of wear. There is also a name inscribed into the bottom. Purchased in North Carolina.

 

S Hill?

 

Yes, “Sherwin” is also inscribed a few inches to the left. Not sure if the “S” is short for Sherwin or possibly a middle initial.

 

In the same style as the first? Perhaps you could favor us with a picture?

 

Sorry, I did not see the Sherwin picture at first.

 

That name inscription looks like a post-factory add-on. Perhaps it was assembled by a home woodworker. The seat is drilled for hand-woven cane. Machine-woven caning sheets became available in the 1870s so your chair might date before then. Not that hand-caning completely disappeared after 1870, but it definitely dropped away.

 

Oak or hickory Eastlake rocker ca. 1890. Value is minimal, maybe $25.00 in my neck of the Midwestern woods, at auction. Could be a beautiful refinish, or leave it rustic. Sad fact is, younger folk don't love 'em, and their natural constituency is dying off by the day.

I had an ash rocker with a pressed ornament top rail ca 1910 with a stitched seat; use of stitching or channelling was heavily based on location.

 

If I had a million dollars, this is the sort of thing I would love to store safely and carefully until the kids of today grow up and want stuff like Grandma had.

 

I got nothing - except it is such a great looking rocker with the caned seat and the wood grain looks like Oak. That chair needs to be used on an outdoor porch in the summertime! Beautiful!

 

Wondering where in NC you got this. There's is a small town near the NC/VA border north of Raleigh called South Hill.."S Hill" as Bakers mentioned perhaps.

 

Very interesting! Haven’t heard of South Hill before. I purchased this chair in Harmony, NC. But who knows how much it has travelled in its’ 130+ years of existence.

 

A mere 3 hours drive from South Hill, VA...