Featured $1 Side Chair with Floral Carvings

i found the attached side chair at an estate sale in Monterey for a dollar. It had a broken post finial, which I repaired and also I cleaned off a thick layer of dust before rubbing it down with lemon oil.

It has some pretty intricate carving on the back and skirts and cane seat in good condition. I believe these are cabriolet legs? The motif looks like a daisy with 18 petals. Is this English Country? Any idea what period?

The chair looked pretty ugly as found and I had been thinking of salvaging the carvings as some interesting design elements, but the post went back on easily and it cleaned up well.

Regards,

Matt

 

I wonder if it could be Anglo Indian ? What a steal for a $1 !

 

Mexican?

 

Didn't someone post about a "scholar's chair" recently? google scholar's chair+spanish+antique for something similar to yours.

The fact that it's not carved on the back i think would indicate something made later in multiples, but the beautiful legs and delicate turned finials are very fine, imo

That flat overhanging seat combined with cabrioles looks Chinese to me, but the rest doesn't fit that... Very nice!

 

My thought would be Mexico with Spanish colonial influence. However, it could be Spanish or even American in the Spanish style.

 

Yes, the wood and carving not Chinese - the finials and turned uprights suggest American to me, but that back splat seems pretty exotic/sexy for American.

 

That's a lot of chair for $1. Does the caning appear to be original? And what is it set into? (Appears to be hide.)

Debora

 

Yes I believe it is original caning. I think it's set right in the wood. This picture is a crop with a little more detail

 

My guess would be 1960s dining room set, probably meant for sale in the US.

 

It looks sort of like Spanish Revival but there are no stretchers between the legs and that's a pretty fundamental element.

 

My guess would be recent import from Indonesia !
That's their wood alright...and their over the top flowery carving....and SCUFFING !

And California is a gateway for their products.....

 

The caning is made up of nine small squares stitched together. That doesn't seem Indonesian to me. In Indonesia the cheap stuff is sold on rolls, just like textile. And if they make it by hand, still cheap, they make the whole seat in one go.

 

Given that recaning costs about a dollar a hole, I call that a bargain.

 

The chair was found in Monterey, CA which was the capital of the Spanish and then Mexican province of Alta California. Monterey Colonial, an architectural style, developed there. It, along with Spanish Colonial, was widely revived in the first half of the 1900s. Makes sense to me that chair could have come from a home built and decorated in either of those styles.

Debora

 

This does have some of the characteristics of Indonesian furniture but agree that the real caning would be unusual for them. I still see it as a possibility since not all furniture out of Indonesia is low quality. I still think Mexico a more likely source for this but without iron-clad provenance, we won't know. I think we are mostly in agreement that this is not terribly old and a great bargain for a buck.

 

View attachment 76007

Here's an example of Monterey Co.

Debora

View attachment 76007

 

Wow...that's a huge chair !

 

Shouldn't have posted before that second cup of coffee!

Here's an example of a Monterey Colonial home.

Debra

 

I think that seat is hand woven. I've caned a few chairs, and it's hard work! Rather than nine sections nailed together, I think it's a pattern woven in that would also reinforce the seat. It's beautiful and useful! If it were pre woven cane, it would be set into a grove on the top of the chair seat, not woven into holes. Lots of old chairs are ruined that way and can't be taken back to original caning once the groove is routed in.

Edited to add, you can also see knots where the weavers are joined. You won't see that in prewoven caning.

Pretty chair @memobug!

 

Yes, the seat looks handwoven. Did anyone suggest the nine sections were nailed together? Sounds painful .
It still looks Mexican/Spanish Colonial to me. I have seen a lot of Mexican light coloured wood furniture that was stained a dark colour, often including scuffing.
Whatever the origin, it is charming and a real bargain.
Indonesian furniture is usually more intricately carved and more detailed. Even if it is from Bali, which often has a rustic version of traditional Javanese and Madurese (neighbouring islands) style carving. By the way, most Indonesian cane-seated furniture has handwoven cane, just the very cheap mass production manufacturers use ready-made caning.