I posted a couple weeks ago that I might pick up a VERY rough painted arm chair as my next project - well, I did. I ended up getting it for $50. I have taken it apart now including removing about 40 extra screws and nails, and begun to strip it. Stonecat - you were right about getting the difficulty of getting the paint out of the grain. However, I have been trying a product new to me - Lightning Strip - and it works incredibly well.
Any idea on the company? Definitely not top tier but the front posts do extend through the arms and are pegged plus the bow in the back slats suggesting it was done by a decent maker (which we know from stonecat's shopmark project could include any one of a hundred companies). I think it will match nicely with the footstool I posted about earlier.
...ok, a quick check of the Limbert catalogues and it's very close stylistically to one model of arm chair except for the corbels and spring seat..the Limbert chair I see in the catalogue has the same arched ladderback pieces and arched front..an image search yahoo/google didn't find anything..I'll check some auction catalogues and other sources and scan the Limbert catalogue pic and check in later tonight...
Here's the Limbert chair with the same style elements, but obviously not the same chair.
I couldn't find anything else close, looking through other catalogues and sales. Anyways, it's still a cool looking chair, and maybe another maker borrowed a couple ideas from Limbert - pretty common back in the day. Good luck as you put some life back in to it.
Thanks for looking Stonecat. I was just out working on it and as I put on stripper I made sure to look for any sign of markings but no luck. Oh well, I agree with you, it has a good look to it and some nice features. Notice the pointed back posts. The picture doesn't show just how bad of shape it is in though. Look closely and you will see wood putty on the left arm (broken badly) and a patch in the left front post. Also a couple dozen countersunk screws.
