Below are photos of the chair I am recreating.
This piece came from my mother and father who were big antique collectors. It is a Mission-style piece of furniture.
Mission-style furniture grew out of the turn of the century Arts and Crafts movement which was a response to industrialization. It was popular from 1890 to 1914 in the United States, Canada and Great Britian.
This movement represents an attitudinal shift of Americans from the ornate to the simple. During the prior Victorian Era, elaborate Rococo and Neoclassical furniture was produced by factories. The creative thinkers and scholars of the time began to grow weary of the ornate aethetic of the Victorian Era. Further, they disliked the low quanilty of these machine-made items.
Designers and craftsmen moved to making high-quality, hand-made furniture, crafted by artisians. The were of a simpler, more natural and functional look, with clean lines and solid, heavy frames made of solid wood.
In 1900, furniture designer Gustav Stickley published a magazine which gained popularity for the Mission style furniture, along with Craftsman style furniture.
The Mission style is said to be based on the spartan furnishings of California's Fransician missions, earthy and a rectilinear style characterized by thick lines of oak, with exposed mortise-and-tenon joints with no or limited decorative carving. If there is a decorative carving it is based on a natural item such as a leaf or vine or animal.
Mission style can be seen in chairs to tables to cabinets. The wood is varnished but never painted and the upholestry is always natural materials such as dyed leather or cotton. Hinges in cabinets were brass.
Unfortunately Stickley started using steam-powered or electric woodworking machines to get the wood ready for the hand-made pieces. Eventually, the Mission style was mass-produced and slipped to low-quality items as found with its predecessors.
Learning about my chair and it's parts:
Arm: chair part that supports your elbow and forearm
Arm Post /Upright: General term for the upright piece which supports the arm
Back Post / Upright: Also known as "Stile"; Outside vertical framing member of the back
Crest / Top Rail: Rail which contains the top rail - an ornamental topping may set in the center of the top rail
Legs: Support for he chair
Seat Rail: The strips that run between the legs and connects to the seat surface; also known as apron
Spindle: A cylindrically symmetric shaft
Splat: A vertical central element of the chair back
Stretches: Horizontal suppport elements that join the legs
Seat: Teh piece you set your rear end on
My goal is to refinish the wood to a darker color and to re-upholster the seat... we'll see!
Kathy
