Old Ladderback chair

Hey once again!

I have a ladderback chair that I think is extremely old. The wood is extremely aged and some of the stretchers and seat supports are hand carved. It has not seat, but i assume there was rush seating on this at one time, or it had a frame with caning done. There are no markings.

I think the wood is oak? the chair is pretty light regarding weight. Any thoughts?

Thanks again for the help! Here are some pictures...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0n21ioama5lhtd0/AACs4qQ1g8WLRiL987e9zF2va?dl=0

 

I do think this a reasonably old chair. The problem with ladderbacks is that they have been made virtually unchanged for 100 years or more. Consequently, it is difficult to tell how old they are. I am not seeing enough details in these pics to see either signs of true age or new construction. You mentioned hand carving and I maybe see some signs that the ends of the front top stretcher may have been whittled to fit but that could be true on newer machine turnings as well. I would like to see more pics of the turnings, any saw marks, and signs of wear. A truly old chair should show wear on the rungs.

The one back leg piece looks like oak but most of the other pieces do not. It is not unusual for these to be made of mixed woods, particularly if they were originally painted. Many of these chairs have hickory in them but it would not be unusual to see maple, birch, or poplar. Occasionally, some ash will show up in the ladder "rungs". This would have had a rush seat.

 

When I clicked on your link, it wanted me to sign into Dropbox. If you want to get many people here to look at your photos, upload them and click on Full Image and they will appear in the post. I don't sign in to random links.

 

Didn't ask me to sign up to see the photos but agree that people should post photos directly here.

 

Yup. I can't see any of his photos without signing into Dropbox. I'll bet I'm not the only one.

 

Maybe......sometimes....we should post our findings & comments like this...

www.tumbler/komofinds$6000.matchtoexoticladderchair.com

 

Sorry y'all. As far as the sign in, all you have to do is close out the login window by clicking on the x in the corner. You don't have to sign up for dropbox to view the pictures. I just use dropbox for my photo storage, so I supplied the link. Here are the photos...

 

My initial question is - how was that chair stripped?? Secondly, hope you don't mind that I took the full sized pic and cropped it....pointing out what I see as hand hewn "stretchers" (sorry VBrad...my mind is blanking even tho I grew up with this stuff) and my guess as to age would be late 1700's to 1850. Also initially Dropbox was asking for signup, which I just X'ed out and now it doesn't anymore!! Sue

 

I have a bunch of old chairs. Can't pass one by. There looks like some machine made rungs on the sides. The question then would be - are they replacements for hand hewn ones or are the hand hewn ones a later addition by someone? Can you post pictures of the bottoms of the feet?

 

I will take some more pics tonight and post them. The bottom stretchers are much cleaner than the top ones, but up close still show a lot of uneven cuts. The bottom of the legs are also tapered, so I will get a picture of them as well. Thanks everyone for being such an asset!

 

Here are some additional pics. The other stretchers from a distance look machined, but upon closer look, they are uneven and not symmetrical. Here are some different views...

 

I am seeing hand made but not really seeing any signs of true age. Those feet would be a lot more worn, as would that front rung. The top knobs at the back are lathe turned but, whether a machine or hand lathe, I can't tell. The hand planing is too intentionally rough. Any self-respecting carpenter, much less a furniture maker, would leave their work so roughly finished. I am getting the idea that this is a fairly modern rustic artisan piece.

 

Interesting, thanks for information. I live down in the deep south and someone around here thought it was a rural individual's attempt long ago to make a chair and that is why it is more roughly made. I see what you are saying though...

 

I have to agree with Brad. People think of older furniture as being roughly made. In truth, because they didn't have access to the sheer quantity of stuff we have today, every object was made carefully. This chair has at least three different elements. The long pieces with the knobs, as Brad pointed out, are lathe turned - except someone gnawed at the bottoms like a rat. That's the only way I can put it seeing those feet. No one who spent time turning those would chisel away at the feet like that. Then you have fairly rounded rungs which are hand made, but smooth. Lastly, you have the rungs that look like parts off a split rail fence. Either this chair was put together by three different people or one guy in his shed with a bunch of miscellaneous parts. Don't be fooled. I grew up in rural NH and my Dad sold stuff out of the barn. He and his cronies were not above leaving tables and chairs out for a winter or two to "age" them and then selling them to unsuspecting tourists driving up for leaf peeping.

 

After now seeing your latest batch of new pictures, a whole bunch of bright RED FLAGS jumped out at me!!!! I very much agree now with Bev and VBrad!!!! NO self respecting early carpenter would make such a .....mixture? of errors? on a piece of furniture he was making to last!!!! Poorly fitting rungs.....the chop job on the bottom of that foot?? Yikes.....sorry 'bout that.....there are probably some old elements to it, but someone pieced together a chair that was far from whole.....in my opinion.....

 

2 drunk men in a shed...