One of Twelve...?

Wow, this is a marvelous old chair. It arrived at the shop for complete restoration, and with a very notable pedigree. It is one of the original jury chairs made for the Fairplay, CO, Courthouse. The facility was built in 1874, two years before Colorado became a state in 1876. So, this old gentleman could rehearse some scintillating courtroom dramas, if only, yes if only.

It's a BIG  solid oak chair. It was made to seat the big and the tall, the little and short, and then everyone in between.  And it's structurally superior, too. It stands a full four feet off the floor at the top.  It's constructed in three main pieces: the leg and bottom frame structure; a separate mid-frame "gasket" that stabilizes the leg and bottom leg structure and connects it to the upper seat structure; and the upper seat structure which includes the seat,  the chair's arms and the lathe-turned spindles and upper yoke...a wonderful old chair.

The restoration process required that it be taken almost  completely apart. There were few joints that were not loose after 140 years (--and of course if you're active and over 40 you know first hand what that's about). Then the joints were all cleaned and reglued in the reassembly process. The old finish was stripped,  cleaned,  and sanded in preparation for new stain and three coats of finish. 

Oh,  and one more thing. Below the arms and securing the arms "return" to the seat are metal fittings.  These were repainted with the bright gold that matched it's original finish.  You can see this if you look closely at one of  the final pics.  Such a handsome old gentleman!

This final pic (above) celebrates it's presence in my customer's living room... happily home at last.

That's Woodtalkin for today.  If you have pieces that need some help... call me.  I'll listen.