Comments on: The Press Back – The Art of Chair Decoration without Carving

By: Fred Taylor

Fred Taylor — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:08:57 +0000

Sherry – If you can send me some clear digital photos of the chair I will be happy to tell you what I can. You can send clear photos to me as .jpg files at info@furnituredetective.com. Please send the photos directly to me as .jpg files. DO NOT put them in an online photo album. Be sure to include a copy of your original inquiry so I can match them up or I will not respond.
Thanks

Fred Taylor
“HOW TO BE A FURNITURE DETECTIVE”
http://www.furnituredetective.com

By: Sherry

Sherry — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:53:34 +0000

Hi, I have one of the Dragon chairs that was given to my husband from his Great Grandmother… Do you have anymore info on this chair? Where was it made? What’s the apx. date if was made?

Thanks so much.

By: Fred Taylor

Fred Taylor — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:56:21 +0000

Pam – That style chair is usually alled a “face chair.” Figures in the back of a chair were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th century. There were many German woodworkers in America at the time and some of the figures came from Black Forest mythology. Others came from Greek and Roman mythology. Some of the gargoyles and grotesques were from Gothic legends of the Middle Ages.

Your chair could also be some sort of Christopher Columbus commemorative. Without a photo it’s hard to tell.

Fred Taylor

By: Pam Warden

Pam Warden — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:41:18 +0000

To add to my post above, I see now that there is a sign up fee. I don’t wish to join here, or have the 7 day trial. Please ignore my post about the chair then.
Thank you,
Pam

By: Pam Warden

Pam Warden — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:38:20 +0000

Hi
I have an very old chair with a face. It is a man with vines and leaves around him and underneath his face it says, Columbus. If you can tell me anything about it that would be great.
Thank you,
Pam

By: Jenni

Jenni — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:16:43 +0000

Thanks so much for this interesting and informative article! I just bought a rocker from a garage sale that I thought was probably from the early 1900s, but I wasn’t very sure. I knew the “carving” was too perfect to be hand-worked, but it was also obvious by the solid wood seat and other details that it wasn’t from the mid-20th century or beyond. I stumbled upon your Web page while typing in random search terms such as “dragon faces” and “not hand carved” :) I’ll be coming back to read more often. Thanks again for the article and helping me solve my “mystery”

By: Paul Janulewicz

Paul Janulewicz — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:34:47 +0000

I refinished a rocking chair 25 years ago with the same image on it. There was no bottom in the seat and I spent several hours carefully removing paint. I wasnt sure if it was caining or leather bottom. I would love to see a picture of the caining so I can complete this restoration to original as possible.
A couple of years ago I purchased a simular rocking chair from a antique store. The one I had is a sewing chair and the one I purchased is a parlor chair.

Here is the history I was told on these chairs.
They are press back rockers from the late 1800′s to early 1900′s.
From what I was told the image is called “The Man of The North Winds”

You might find it interesting to look up the fables of The North Wind and The Sun. They are very interesting and fit the image of these chairs.

I am interested in more of these chairs to add to my collection.

By: P. Hughes

P. Hughes — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:43:05 +0000

I just happened on this article of the face chair and the picture and you said you have six of them, I also have six of them in excellent condition all cain perfect, I inerrited them when my family passed, was wondering if you could tell me about this face , what it is,its terribly ugly, but this is the only time I have ever seen another of the ones like I have , and where or who could I talk with to find out their worth?

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:57:15 +0000

Very interesting article.
Do you know of any pictures of the machines that actually performed this process?

By: L Sorensen

L Sorensen — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 03:38:36 +0000

Interested in your six chairs with the “face chair” image on them. Just wondering where you are located and how much you would want for them?

By: J Henderson

J Henderson — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:14:54 +0000

Hello. I have a set of 6 chairs which are IDENTICAL to the first photo in this article, with the “face chair” image in them. Is anyone interested in taking them off my hands? Of the 6 chairs, 2 have the original wicker caned seat intact. There is a break in the caning of the other chairs. Thank you.

By: Millie Golden

Millie Golden — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:33:30 +0000

Fred, another great article. I have started saving your articles to a file so that I can refer back to them. You are a wealth of information! Thank you for sharing with all of us.

By: Kristen Cart

Kristen Cart — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:03:45 +0000

Is there anything special about a rocking chair decorated with the image of the USS Maine? I have seen other memorabilia with this image and I wonder how common it is–I have never seen another pressed back chair like it.

Kristen

By: Nick Ryan

Nick Ryan — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:59:27 +0000

Hi Fred, this must be the same method used for the ‘carving’ on the top of gingerbread clocks by Seth Thomas etc.

Kind regards, Nick

By: Kathleen M. G. Menendez

Kathleen M. G. Menendez — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:39:20 +0000

Hello, Mr. Taylor.

Thank you for this interesting article. I wanted to say that the technique looks a little like a pressed wood method that I read about in a Charles Dickens article called Odd Pictures. (Look for ‘Charles Dickens’ on my web page in the 19th C. section.)

At the same time, another technique that Dickens wrote about under that same title was pyrography, and two of the pictures shown in your “Press Back” article look as though they could be burnt wood. The fifth image of the dragons (with the date 07/07/2007) and the seventh image of the Holy Land both look as though they have burnt outlines. Is that the case?

Also, there were lots of Flemish Art (pyrography) stamped boxes, postcards, etc., done at the turn of the century, and I have yet to see on eBay or anywhere a single metal dye left from that era. Do you know where there are any? Or at least where I should look for them? I would love to see some to see how the process was done.

Thank you very much.

Kahtleen M.
Curator, E-Museum of Pyrographic Art