One more chair

Here is something that I think is extremely old. It is in raw shape. The seat, back and upholstry is missing. Here it is...

 

About 1860 balloon back chair. Probably mahogany but hard to tell with that darkened finish.

 

Brad - I really appreciate your expertise and willingness to help.

I do mostly just dresser/table/hutch/etc. furniture restoration and not much with chairs, hence one reason I have been posting so much recently about chairs. Do you feel this chair is even worth trying to restore? I think it looks beautiful, but I know I would have to do some major work to bring it back to life. With all the nail holes, you can tell it has been upholstered a number of times during its life. The lower rail on the seat back is missing, so I would have to refabricate that. I would also have to build the seat frame/internal supports. I just don't know if it is worth it. Thoughts?

 

Generally not worth it if it is a business proposition. If doing it to save a beautiful antique, then it might be worth it. It is a shame that so many such projects don't ever get done. You might look at similar chairs to see what they sell for and decide accordingly.

The missing rail could just be reinforced with plain lumber and upholstered over. Some such chairs were originally done this way. Any way you look at it, it is a daunting project.

I had an even more ornate mahogany tub chair from about the same period that I had always planned to fix. After languishing in my basement for about 20 years, I finally sold it for about $30.00 at a garage sale in anticipation of a move. Kind of killed me to sell it for so little but the enthusiastic young couple that bought it probably had more chance of getting the project done than I did.

 

they were young Brad......they'll learn !

 

I still have a passle of those type of chair frames. Some day when I retire (if I retire) I'll get back to refinishing & reupholstering.