Good morning,
I would like to say Hi since I am new to the forum. I have been reading for a few months now but have decided to join. The wealth of knowledge here is great and I look forward to learning.

My fiance and I love the architecture and styles of the A&C movement. Unfortunately we currently live in a condo but are planning on eventually building our own A&C bungalow. In the mean time we are going to search for furniture and other items that will fill that house.

We are thinking about going to our first estate sale tomorrow because we saw this picture of a chair but I was curious if anyone could identify it. The thing that is throwing me off is the leather that covers the back of the chair. Didnt most of this style of chair have the slats? Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

As Mission/Prairie and arts and crafts furniture is well constructed and simple design, it sometimes lacks comfort and style to the owner. I have seen a few pieces that have been converted or fixed up to the owner's liking. The backs are usually ladder back or slatted and the owner feels more comfortable with it upholstered. Personal choice, but you can't tell too much until you actually inspect the chair. Looks wise it could be any one of many manufacturers, look for makers marks under the arms, along the back stretchers and legs or inside the seat frame. Could be a L&JG Stickley, Stickley Bros or JM Young in my opinion. Nice chair, hope you get a good deal!

Thanks for the quick reply. I was kind of thinking that the leather may be covering something up but thought I would see if anyone knew of a piece that may have been produced this way. I may have to take a drive tomorrow morning and see exactly what it is.

Bill

Bill, MAny chairs did come manufactured with leather backs. It's had to tell with that picture. Is the backside covered in leather? You need to feel it and see if it is ladder back or vertical slats. The arms can tell you about a manufacturer too. There may be a number stamped or painted on the chair under neath the seat or aon the frame. It may have a slat seat frame or a drop in seat or a string hung seat cushion also. Just a few of the many different things to tell who manufactured. You need to sit in it and try it. Loose joints, repairs, refinishing, lower the value and need to be considered. If you can buy it low and want to invest in a nice chair, do it! You can always sell it!

Unfortunately I do not have any other pictures of it but I will check it out tomorrow and see if it is right for me. I was just looking at the estate sale website again and it appears that they have what appears to be an identical style chair but in a rocker that has the same leather covers so maybe the owner had modified them and the slats are hiding under that leather. I will let you know what I find.

I'd say modified. Red, or whatever that colour is was not a common colour of the day, and the tacks up and down the posts probably suggests modified. I think most of the factory chairs with leather backs would have left the posts 'un-protected'. The leather also looks to be in pretty good condition compared to the wood (tops of arms) - two different vintages maybe.

SC, I saw a couple of catalogs this week that had sample leather colors in them. A cool dark green and a blue were in there. There was a red but not a bright red, way more subdued. Nice color selection though. The chairs must have been very attractive when new!

Precisely, My dear StoneCat!

I would love to get an original piece with original green leather someday...mixed with a nice green stained glass lamp and and get the whole forest feel indoors thing happening...

The estate sale ended up being an auction which was an interesting first experience. The chair did have slats and the leather was only covering one side of the slats so I could inspect its condition. The metal studs had split the right side vertical frame and it had been glued so I decided to pass on that. It did end up going for only $95 though. It also had identification on it. It was made by Oakcraft Furniture of Portland, Michigan.

The rocker did not have any markings on it but it matched the chair perfectly other than the metal studs, which had more of a distressed look to them, so I have to guess that it was the same manufacturer. It was in much better shape and had no structural problems at all. The bidding got up to $125 and I was going against the lady that won the first chair and she wasnt going to give up on the second one so I stopped bidding at $125. Part of that too was not knowing exactly what the Oakcraft name was and knowing if it was worth anything. I also really didnt feel like dealing with removing the metal studs so I went up to $125. If I hadnt been there she would have gotten it for about $65. So the searching will continue. I will admit that it was quite fun though.

Bill

Cool!
Speaking of Oakcraft, this rocker just listed on eBay, Looks in very good condition. I don't know anything about Oakcraft Furniture-the description in the listing is well done though. As for it's value, IMO, if you like it and it suits your setting, is in good condition and isn't too expensive, a major maker doesn't matter. The hard part is knowing if it is valued too high or you pay too much for a lesser known item. Again, if it's suits you, ...

Dear Bill,

Don't be afraid to buy that ugly piece of mission that looks like some color blind person from the sixties tried to update it. As long a it is not painted, and the wood is not split beyond being repairable, go for it.

I have bought "dogs" that made my husband think I was nuts. I bought a Stickley clone and had someone to clean up the dirt and reglue the joints. Then, I get rid of the neon green vinyl. I replaced the green with black leather scraps left over from a high end car place that replaces cloth seats with leather for expensive cars.

Last year I bought two matching chairs--very dirty with some alligator finish on the front and back with split green vinyl cushions. No label. But my furniture guy got rid of the bad finish on the front of the chairs, cleaned off the black coating and now they are a gorgeous matched set of chairs with a deep red, orginal finish. I just have to find the right leather to finish it off.

Everything we own is generic, fixed up stuff that nobody wanted. Now, I have a house full of antique Mission Arts and Crafts furniture for a fraction of name brand stuff. Most of it is original finish. I have bought some "orphans" that have been badly refinished because I needed a piece like that to make a room work.

We just upgraded and bought our first Limbert and some Roseville pottery. We sold some of our first A & C stuff to make room.

Good luck in your hunting. But don't be afraid to buy something because it looks like the cat drug it in.

Bev.

Bev.

I may be a little more agressive in future auctions, and had this rocker not had all of the studs in it I would have probably went home with it but the studs were in the tops and bottoms of each slat and all up the main frame rails. That is what turned me off the most about it. I am definitely looking to getting my hands dirty in the future with other piece.

Bill

You do have to be careful however when looking at and buying 'dogs' because of the amount and cost of work to fix er up. I was actually at a sale this morning that had a decent looking Morris chair with a footrest extension. It sold for all of $25. Why didn't I buy it??? I guesstimated $400 worth of leather and padding work (not something you easily do yourself), and I guess the rest of the crowd did as well (mainly dealer types, being a Monday morning sale). The best pieces are ones that look like firewood piles, but really aren't. The flip side is don't be afraid to pay for quality because quality pieces will hold their value and be easy to sell if you ever have to or want to. Waiting for a good quality piece is always an option.

So I was just looking on Ebay and look what I found. The rocker that I was bidding on last weekend at the estate sale. She paid $135 for it and has it starting at $295. She obviously has a business and is trying to make money but it just burns me because I was buying it for personal use. Shouldn't be bitter about it but I am just a tad.


And here is the chair. [broken link] She forgot to mention the split on the frame that is clearly glued together. So did I make a mistake by not picking these up?

That's what auctions are all about. 85% of the bidders are re-sellers! Think of the chairs as investments and not family members and you get much more out of the chair. What if you hated them once you bought them? You would sell them and try to make a profit. Long live the American way!

Every one of those tack holes counts as damage, so literally a few dollars a hole. The leather is the wrong colour and in theory should be redone. Combined, these take hundreds off the value of the pair. These chairs might not even get bids, but if they do, probably by someone who doesn't recognize the value of the damage - this is what some sellers rely on. By comparison, the rocker mrm posted further above sold for $650 - doesn't have the damage and has the proper colour leather. Its these sorts of points that make all the difference.

..bumping this one back up...

Neither chair got any bids..

Yeah I saw that. I went ahead and jokingly sent the seller an email offering them the exact amounts that they bought each chairfor and I got a single word answer. I will let you guess what that was...

I guess a one word answer is better than a slightly longer two word answer. Bookmark the seller and check now and then to see if they re-list at a lower price - they probably will, common eBay dealer thing to do, unless they also do real shows and try to sell it this way.