Dining Table Set W/ Embroidered Seats?

Hello!

I have this dining table set that was purchased roughly 20 years ago and I haven’t been able to find any information on it. I’ve seen similar sets with the ladder back and embroidered/needlepoint/tapestry-style chair seats, but nothing definitive. The table extends. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

 

no marks under the table or chairs..?

 

Needlepoint seats. Would have been replacements, produced from a kit.

Debora

 

The set looks to be 30s or just post-WWII. The seats were often sold with the center done, and the lady of the house would sit by the radio and do the solid color stitching.

 

Wait. The fun part would be done and they'd do the unfun bit?? Please say I'm confused here. The image is the best part!

 

Yep. The design would be pre-made and one filled in the rest. Gave one's hands something to do in the evenings while one listened to the radio. Or later when one watched TV.

Debora

 

Not sure the table and chairs originally went together. Table is Duncan Phyfe style. Chairs are more European in style. Though very watered down, maybe French or Italian influence.

Chairs are similar to this set I saw in a thrift store last year. They were a tough sell, despite great condition, and finally sold when marked down to $30.00 for the entire set Needlepoint seats are just not in fashion these days.

 

But hands can be doing the fun part too! I'd rather do florals than background lol. Print the design on canvas to follow, and have the boring bit filled in, that's what I say!

 

Oh, my, I would have snapped those up! (And been willing to pay $20 per chair.)

Many homemakers weren't very skilled in needlepoint (if at all) or didn't have the time to do more intricate patterns. But stitching the backgrounds gave them a feeling of accomplishment and bragging rights.

 

Yeah, kinda like cake mix.

Debora

 

I understand that. I guess I'm used to the more "modern" ones where it's essentially paint-by-numbers for needlepoint and wondering why that wasn't used then! I freehand what I'm working on but it's definitely nice to "turn off" and do something that's guided.

 

THey may well have been sold together. After the War, they made sets out of what they could get instead of what "went". A lot of the guys who worked in the factories were still in uniform and production was down. Wood wasn't rationed, but workers essentially were.