Free chairs. Worth anything?

Those are sweet c.1900 press-back oak kitchen chairs. Hard to sell, especially as-is. The leg needs repair to be safe. They probably have a routed channel under the press-board seat that held machine-caned webbing at one time. Maybe $10 or so, to someone who likes shabby chic, or a big, but rewarding project. I love them, but have given away more than I have sold, and never for enough to cover my time and labor.

 

Darkwing Manor summed that one up. But as to your question of worth, like I say, something is worth something to someone...as long as you have a place to store it and wait....and wait.

 

The patina is pretty cool as is. "Farmhouse" and shabby chic are great markets for this look. The seat is even intact. Perhaps a good cleaning and waxing... and get that break repaired. You said chairs, are there any matching ones? That is a saleablity plus.

 

I don't think the seats are pressboard. More likely leather. I used to have one showing a guy playing a mandolin. Don't know what happened to it. The type of seat must narrow the time period, but I don't know what to.

 

Possibly, but these were much more common, cheaper and still made today, in a variety of designs. https://restorationsupplies.com/chair-restoration-products-supplies/fiber-seats/

 

and that's why they're free.....

 

Be sure to put “black” and “leather” in the description. They have a witchy, goth sort of vibe going on. They look much less suburban farmhouse and more Adams family farmhouse. Would have looked great in the purple and black kitchen of my mission district flat in SF in the ‘90’s, with someone wearing lots of black leather and playing guitar

Or on the porch in Long Island while we were handing out Halloween candy.

I could easily see them selling pretty quickly once they’re cleaned up and fixed up, especially if staged right. I knew a guy back in the day who always had a sale a few weeks before Halloween, in or near a neighborhood where over-the-top decorating was just short of required. People paid top dollar for all sorts of otherwise unmovable stuff (beat up reproductions, broken statuary, etc.) and were happy, because it was still cheaper than getting plastic lookalikes, and lasted longer too.

 

Free chairs. Worth anything?

There is a reason why they are free.
By the time you "fixed" them, you would lose money on any resale.

 

Thanks for all the comments. I’m not interested in reselling; but before I start on any sort of minimalist restoration so I can use them I wanted to make sure these weren’t my ticket to paradise.

It seems like once I fix the leg these should be good to go in the back bedroom/garage.

 

Other than I have had some old chairs I don't know much about these. I did find someone asking about a similar chair made by Brumby so I went off looking. I'm not suggesting that's who made yours.

I found a site with Brumby catalogs going back awhile. I found that this type was still being made in the 1940s though also earlier. Some of their chairs were offered with cobbler seats which I think means the leather type. Anyway, here are the catalogs, interesting to look through.

https://brumbyrocker.com/history/historical-catalog/

From 1914 catalog:
https://viewer.joomag.com/brumby-rocker-brochures-1914-catalog-full/0411968001433275050



From 1941 catalog
https://viewer.joomag.com/brumby-rocker-brochures-1941-catalog/0719570001396014641

 

I haven't heard that term before, thank you! Speaking of seats, here is one I got back from my new ex-upholsterer last week.... oops.

 

1941?? Wow, I'm surprised to see this design still around that late! Talk about "retardataire" Or perhaps they were following Wallace Nutting's lead and making "American reproductions". Some of those other chairs in the catalog are looking suspiciously like Colonial Revival.

 

Oh. My. Gawd.

 

After all that muck is gone, and they've been oiled and waxed, I think they won't look out of place next to your side by side bureau compact.

 

He fixed it.