Sunday, October 23, 2011

A Furniture Mystery

It's late October, and Lovely Daughters #1 and #2 are fully settled in to the Funny Looking House. They have all the furniture and furnishings they need now.

They don't need me to Dumpster dive or bring home any more things left out by the side of the road.

But I can't stop noticing what my insane neighbors leave out for the trash man, and it drives me nuts to see useful things go to waste.

A few weeks back, I noticed three side chairs abandoned on a curb. I was with LD #2 at the time, and I said, "Aww, look at that! Some body is trashing perfectly nice chairs!"

But it wasn't anything she or her sister needed, so I let them be.

A day later, the chairs were still there.

I couldn't stand it.

I drove my car over and tossed all three of them into the back, with the intention of giving them to Goodwill an hour later. But when I pulled them out of the car and took a closer look, I was intrigued. Two of them looked the same, and one was slightly different.

The lighter-colored chair on the right (in the photo below) is one of two. The darker-colored chair on the left is the odd one of the three:

But it is beautiful! It has graceful lines, the wood feels silky and smooth, and its construction is far better than the other two.

I mean, look how doofy the lighter-colored chair on the right looks in comparison:

The back splat on the darker chair is all graceful curves, and the lighter one on the right is just...awkward.

Here's a closeup of the better chair:

And here's a closeup of one of the dorkier chairs:

It's almost painful to contemplate those awkward bends and angles! By contrast, everything about the dark chair chair flows. One part leads gracefully to the next:

Look past the stained fabric seats: that's just a simple upholstery change.

From the back, you can see the darker chair has graceful, "sabre"-style back legs, and the lighter chair has legs that look...knock-kneed:

I apologize for the slightly out-of-focus shot, below. But even in this fuzzy image you can see how the darker chair has nicer lines. It's more elegant. More--I don't know--more sure of itself:

Intrigued, I turned them over to look for clues.

I found this old-fashioned label, in a shaky hand that looks like an old person wrote it, on the bottom of one of the dorky chairs:

It says, "Modern copy of Victorian fiddleback chairs." Then I turned over the prettier, darker chair, and I found this label, clearly written by the same hand:

It says, "Victorian fiddleback chair. Same style as Se*g****ret chairs from New Orleans." And above all that, you can just make out in the photo above, is a date: "1840."

1840??!! I nearly fell over!

Is it possible this chair is actually from the 1840s? And what is that proper name, so unfortunately scribbled in a shaky hand, only halfway legible?

I jumped on the Internet and confirmed that the Victorian period of decorative arts stretched a long time. Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837 and ruled until her death in 1901.

The beautiful lines, silky finish of the wood, and construction of the lovely chair make me think it could, indeed, be from the 1840s. Or at least some time during the long Victorian era.

But what is that halfway illegible name? I have searched and searched, and I can't get anywhere. I've Googled every combination of "Victorian," "New Orleans," "Fiddleback," "Chair," "Furniture Makers," "Manufacturer," "Factory," and "1840s" I can think of, but no use.

Does anybody recognize this maker's name? It definitely starts with "Se" and ends with "ret," but it gets kind of hard to figure out, beyond that:

In the meantime, I'm giving the two dopey-looking chairs to Goodwill.

But this one? It's a keeper. And I still want to solve the mystery of its origin.

15 comments:

  1. not sure if you solved the mystery, but I'm pretty sure it says "seigneuret" chairs :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry- it should have said "Seignouret" as in Francois Seignouret - look him up- you'll find your info!

      Delete
  2. You may have done it yourself when visiting: looked at the furniture and drew an opinion on your hosts according to their choice.mechanical weighing machine

    ReplyDelete
  3. For genuine quality furniture such as fine bedroom furniture crafted from solid wood, you must buy from a craftsman. kitchener homes

    ReplyDelete
  4. Most of the nonexclusive stores guarantee you brisk establishment and conveyance, yet neglect to satisfy them; however, the furniture stores having an online presence adhere to their promise and give you establishment and conveyance benefits as referenced in their approaches. interior designer

    ReplyDelete
  5. Whoi, excellent, t wondered just how to cure icne. ind found your webstte by google, dtscovered todiy t'm i ltttle obvtous i greit deil. t’ve ilso idded RSS ind sive your webstte. keep us updited. ameriwood furniture

    ReplyDelete
  6. Apart from that, polishing of the furniture with wood varnish every six months would invariably enhance the life and shine of this kind of furniture. rosewood furniture manufacturer

    ReplyDelete
  7. Choosing kids bed sheets that are machine washable and states that clearly on the label will ensure that the inevitable spill or accident will not ruin the bedding your kids love. toddler bunk bed with slide

    ReplyDelete
  8. Visitors from overseas have been charmed by the two capital cities. As tourist numbers have grown, Prague and Budapest have both seen a rise in the quantity and quality of tourist accommodation. property budapest

    ReplyDelete
  9. We should note that a manufacturer's warranty does not necessarily guarantee that your mattress will continue to provide adequate support for the length of the warrantee. Usually a warranty simply means that a mattress manufacturer guarantee's against defects in quality. However, warranties do differ from one manufacturer to another, so be sure to read up on what the manufacturer of your current mattress semi truck mattress

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...