What kind of chair is this?

July 13, 2008 7:10 AM

Could anybody help me identify this old chair?

I have a pretty good eye for furniture, and I've never seen another chair like this one. Has anyone else? I got it from an old house while I was working on a renovation project for Worcester College in Oxford (More info is on the Flickr page). I'm now considering a return to Canada and wonder if this chair has any value, either in its present state or re-covered (I have access to a sewing machine and am a pretty good seamstress). Or maybe, I'll ship it back with me; I am rather fond of it.
Any advice or information would be appreciated, or perhaps somebody knows of a specific forum where I could ask this question?

posted by Flashman to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Google terms that may get you there might be bentwood or thonet lounge. I found a kind of similar style here but didn't see yours in a quick search.
posted by striker at 7:31 AM on July 13, 2008

You might try asking at Apartment Therapy.
This kind of thing gets asked often, sometimes to success.

Also, it might be in the book 1000 Chairs, but I don't know.
posted by softsantear at 7:40 AM on July 13, 2008

I don't think it's in 1000 Chairs. I own the book and the chair does not look familiar. As for any value, I assume you mean collectable value. If that's the case, I'd side on no. Though it looks well-built, it does not, in my opinion seem well-designed. Though I'm no expert, I am a bit of a chair fanatic and own many books on the topic. Those springs seem more like a layman's or mass production solution to a complex issue: comfort and durability.
posted by dobbs at 8:40 AM on July 13, 2008

I am a bit of a chair fanatic and own many books on the topic.

Until your comment, it had never occurred to me that there were "chair fanatics." Interesting.
posted by jayder at 12:34 PM on July 13, 2008

I've seen a chair like that. Two, in fact. One is sitting right behind me. We bought them at a consignment shop in Paris and a little plaque on it says "Suparest, Pat. No. 407370, Reg'd. Design". Based only on my (admittedly limited) chair-geek knowledge, I can second that it is not in 1000 chairs nor am I in any way familiar with it being a notable design. My wife, who found them, noted that the person who runs the shop had often gone on buying trips to England. We are fond of them as well but I would suggest, in this case, that you judge the worth of moving/recovering them based on what it is worth to you. Here's (the RTF link) as close as I've come in Google.
posted by Dick Paris at 1:16 PM on July 13, 2008

Thanks, Dick Paris, that's incredible, and very helpful.
(Almost as strange as the fact of you owning one is that that sole reference on Google is to an estate sale in Eastbourne, E. Sussex, where I once lived a long time ago.)
posted by Flashman at 4:42 AM on July 14, 2008

So, is this thing comfortable?
posted by softsantear at 8:11 AM on July 14, 2008

I find it comfortable, softsantear, but only in a limited way. It's best for me when sitting with a leg crossed over the other. Maybe this is apocryphal, but it's not like what Hans Wegner said of his favorite chair, the Ox, which he found comfortable in a variety of positions -- to me the mark of a good chair.

I'll give a nod back to Flashman on how incredible it is to stumble upon his question. I don't read as many posts to AskMefi (never mind the blue) as I once did but I am glad I caught this one. Cheers!
posted by Dick Paris at 4:14 PM on July 14, 2008