Four Minnesota chairs?

10 years ago

Hi! If I may avail myself of the collective expertise of this forum's members -- I would love to hear your thoughts and guesses as to the style and origin of these pine ladderback chairs. They seem to be an amalgamation of several styles, with elements of Shaker and craftsman styles.

The joins for the stretchers are through tenons, and there is zero ornamentation anywhere unless you count the square-ish curve of the ladder slats. All straight lines except for those slats. There are no finials. Lots of nice knots and "imperfections."

The more I look at these chairs, the more I love them... and the more curious I am about them! We live in Minnesota and my guess is that these locally made. Three of the four chairs have a rectangular text mark on the underside of the seat, but it is illegible. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Best wishes,
Aimeehj

Comments (5)

lazy_gardens
10 years ago
Are they comfortable?

Nice, but totally undateable. And it doesn't resemble any chairs I've seen commercially.

Maybe a woodworking forum (not the one here, but a place where REAL woodworkers hang out) could ID the plans.

If you look at it, they seem to be all 2x2 and flat boards with dowels for stretchers. A fairly simple plan, hence the craftsman feel.

Can you get any clues from the labels? Post pics of all three, good closeups, and maybe we can see something.
mama goose_gw zn6OH
10 years ago
Rustic looking. They don't look as if they were made with comfort in mind--student desk chairs, maybe for a school?

Are there stretchers under the seat on all four sides, or just front and back? I ask because, considering the cut-aways in the seat, it looks as if they might have had (or been designed to have) caned or woven reed seats.
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Aimeehj
Original Author
10 years ago
Hello and thanks! I did take this photo of the stamp on the underside of one of the chairs, but it's really not even close to legible. Maybe it would ring a bell with an expert. Where *would* "real woodworkers hang out" online, I wonder?
mama goose_gw zn6OH
10 years ago
Some of them hang out on gardenweb. :)

Below is the home forums page. Scroll down for woodworking forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: GW home forums
sombreuil_mongrel
10 years ago
Look like 1970's pine.
Casey