It's made by a lower quality company. This is based on the non-curved seat back and simple seat blocks. It will cost you more to upholster it than what the chair is worth. Nice use of the pencils, MacGyver!
It has some of the "trappings" of an L&JG Stickley, but as someone pointed out, the chair's back would have curved slats rather than flat ones. L&JG would also have a bevel to the front stretcher. It's still a good quality chair. The fact that a dowel held the chair back to the frame is important. Many non-Stickley chairs Morris backs were attached the back stretcher with a metal hinge. You can reference and old Gus, L&JG or JM Young catalog and see how you can recreate the dowel: for an eary gus, it would have a pyramid head. For latter pieces, it would be a rounded head to the dowel pin. The chair retains its corner blocks so you can have built a drop in seat cushion. You don't need to have a spring seat. A good foam cushion with a sturdy bottom frame can nest into the seat frame. Also reference the back cushion as well. I don't agree that the chair isn't worth upholstering. The frame is seems fairly intact. Restoring it can only make it useful. Without restoration, it is what it is. The finish looks fine, just clean and wax it.
Posts: 71 | Location: Southern California | Registered: 05-02-08
