Need help with Cushman Colonial Creation chair 4-125

Hello! New member here. I picked up an awesome little chair at my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $15.00. I'm not familiar with this brand but it was obvious the chair was old and interesting and well-made. Underneath it has the oval Cushman Colonial Creations logo and the model number 4-125.

A few questions for you knowledgeable people...

1) Can you tell how old it is? So far I've figured out that this line of furniture was made from 1933 to the early 60s, but I don't know if 4-125 narrows it down or not.

2) Is the wood maple? That was my guess, but I'm not sure.

3) If it was just any old chair, I'd try to refinish it... But is it more desirable as-is? It's just weird because the underside of the seat is much darker than the rest of the chair. I'm not sure what the finish looked like originally.

Thanks for any info you can provide!

 

Tagging @Drew - our Cushman expert.

 

I lightened a bit....is that just a regular Cushman label??? Can you get a closer SHARP image, OR tell us JUST what it says?? Thanks!!

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Missed this one last year . . . No. 4-125 is their 'Crown Back chair', introduced in 1934 and made up until 1952. This ovel brass tag was used 1946-64, so this piece would have been made 1946-52. The wood is northern yellow birch (many mistakenly think Cushman's creations line was maple... not so). Unfortunately the finish looks to be gone - it would have been a deep russet color which they were famous for)

 

I was curious about the "deep russet color" so went searching on line for an example. Would this be correct?

Debora

 

Generally that's about right - intact damage free finishes are sort of scarce (as with all furniture, sunlight does the most damage.) Cushman had a rich, slightly orangish tone and they spent quite a bit of time finishing their pieces, said to be an 8 part process. Many other furniture makers copied Cushman, but they could never get the finish right. Here's an original finish...

 

Thanks, Drew. Wasn't familiar with Cushman. Interesting information.

Debora