Featured Age and info on Shaker chair?

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could provide some insight and information on the age, style and maker of these chairs? They were given to my parents 40 years ago and were supposed to be valuable back then. Any direction would be great. Thank you.


Dimensions: 32 1/2" floor to top of back.
17" floor to seat.

 

where r ya
how many ya got
how long have the caned seats been missing
how tall are the chairs
just how valuable do you think they were back then....
r there any makings under the seat , or anywhere else...

can u please go back to your post and edit it , choosing full image , for the photos..

 

Hi!

Thanks for your reply.

I am in USA - Chicago. I have Two chairs. The seat have been gone for as long as I can remember. Chair is 32 1/2 inches to the top and 17 to the chair. No markings of any kind anywhere. As for value, no clue. Parents were told they were very valuable when they were received.
Thanks again.

 

Welcome Tom! Nice old chair and great that you have a pair, but that is not Shaker style.

 

Here's a picture of an actual Shaker style chair. See how simple it is?

 

@verybrad

 

Hello and thank you. Can you tell me what style this is so I can create a better post.

 

I don't like to burst anyone's bubble, but chairs like that (without a caned seat) are a dime a dozen at yard sales around here. There were 4 matching ones at a community sale last week that went unsold because not many people do chair caning any more. Caning takes time and money. Sorry to say that you won't get $5 for that at a yard sale around here.

 

@verybrad or @Ghopper1924 might be better able to tell you what to call this style of chair.

 

A mix of late Victorian elements; I see a bit of Renaissance Revival here and some Aesthetic Movement there, none of it particularly notable. Looks like walnut with stitched cane seats. I'd date the chairs as ca. 1880-90. Without tags or labels it will be virtually impossible to say who made them It could have been any one of dozens of manufacturers; in fact, at this price point it doesn't really matter who made the chairs.

Without seats the value would be minimal, which is not to say that these chairs aren't far better quality than just about anything new.

 

Regardless of value, it's certainly a handsome chair. Shame that caning is so expensive.

Debora

 

Thank you all for your knowledge and time! I appreciate the responses.
Best regards

 

Elegant, functional simplicity.
Shaker chairs are also very lightweight, out of necessity.

 

I say it every time there is a post about the Shakers........A visit to one of their compounds is worth every second, minute, hour spent there.

If you ever have the opportunity, take it.

 

Since the caning has been absent since you remember, and the value at present is fairly minimal, should you want to use them, get a carpenter to make a plain wooden seat with curved edges to follow the existing model, and then stain the wood.

 

Or you can learn to cane. Caning is similar to weaving and is easy to learn. I learned back in the 60s when it was taught in summer school and repaired canoe seats for my relatives at the lake and fixed a few old chairs, too. Summertime is the perfect season to take on a caning project, since you can sit outside with a bucket of water to soak the cane and finish a chair seat in an afternoon. You will be pleased with the final product. There must be youtube tutorials on seat caning.

 

Not much more to add to Ghopper's excellent response. The shape of the back rail makes me wonder if some applied carving and/or decorative veneer isn't missing.