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Rudy: Have you another chair for us, dear Klaus?
Klaus: Yes, dear Rudolph.
“A charming primitive stick chair. Solid oak seat with old repair, stick back with three plain sticks and two elongated ‘paddle’ supports, all raised on splayed legs, united by H-stretcher. Lovely patina to the old varnish. Likely Welsh and late 18th century.”
Rudy: “Paddle” supports? Is this a rowing boat?
Klaus: I was wondering the same thing. What’s a paddle a euphemism for, your tits? So it’s tit support?
Klaus: I want a chair that can support my paddles.
Chris: So the crime here is calling THIS chair “primitive.”
Klaus: Did they call it that?! Oh my.
Chris: Yes, the primitives.
Rudy: Well, this joint is VERY primitive. NOT.
Klaus: That’s really primitive, to call this chair primitive.
Chris: This chair is like what Chris Williams would make.
Klaus: That joint is pretty special.
Rudy: The whole chair is special.
Klaus: There’s not much wrong with this chair
Chris: Look at the way the sticks join the seat. WTF?
Rudy: In a beautiful way. And so PRIMITIVE! Octagonal mortises?
Klaus: Yah, the mortises are special.
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Chris: And square mortises in the arm.
Chris: This chair was made by a cabinetmaker.
Rudy: Definitely looks like it. Or by a paddle maker.
Klaus: Truly elegant. So crisp. And yes, square mortises on the comb/back there.
Chris: I’m a bit in disbelief this is 18th c.
Rudy: Same. Not buying that.
Klaus: You’re thinking Far East Wales?
Rudy: Not necessarily.
Chris: Not a fake. Just looks 20th century to me.
Klaus: It’s very modern looking. Like mid-century modern.
Chris: The seat shape is very 20th c.
Klaus: That seat shape too… is just very uncommon.
Chris: And there isn’t anything messed up about it.
Klaus: Good point
Klaus: No wobble AT ALL.
Chris: 200-year-old chairs don’t look like supermodels.
Klaus: Right. And we’ve seen quite a few now. Not many Welsh supermodels from the 18th century.
Rudy: Usually the seats are very banged up from chopping and stuff.
Klaus: If so, that dates the chair.
Rudy: The front of the seat looks like it should be falling off. Is it reinforced?
Chris: It’s a modern glue-up.
Klaus: Just glue? No pegs there?
Chris: I would love to own this chair. But somebody got screwed.
Rudy: SOLD! Oops.
Klaus: It’s also interesting to look at the finish between the sticks on the seat. Looks like small bubbles. Like it got heat treatment.
Rudy: Ah yes, good eye.
Klaus: Well, they’re not bubbles.
Chris: That could be shellac crazing.
Klaus: Yah, OK.
Rudy: Maybe the rest of the seat was like that too but it got worn away?
Klaus: So that would be the original color and the rest is wear?!
Rudy: From the picture it looks like that.
Chris: Look at the legs. That’s the OG color.
Klaus: By the way, is that a very wide wedge in that leg tenon?
Chris: Yes it is. Kinda weird.
Klaus: Also very uncommon.
Rudy: It’s a Wery Wide WedgeTM
Chris: And is the arm a branch or a steam bending?
Klaus: Looks bent to me.
Rudy: Looks like steam bending to me.
Rudy: The front stick is pegged.
Klaus: Yup. And the sticks are also slightly tapered. Very elegant. The spacing between them is also perfect.
Rudy: I also love the wide seat.
Klaus: It’s also not often that combining different stick shapes work together, but here they do.
Chris: Kudos to the maker! Who might still be alive.
Chris: This looks branchy….
Klaus: What makes it look branchy to you?
Chris: The cathedrals. Like they cut through part of the branch and revealed cathedrals.
Klaus: Right.
Rudy: I think the slight imperfection on the underside may hint to a natural crook. But it just seems too perfect to me. I could be wrong!
Chris: If it were a steam bending, I’d expect to see the same grain pattern along the entire arm.
Klaus: If you see it from here it looks a tiny bit wonky. In the middle there, just to the right of the middle stick.
Chris: Chris Williams’ crooks look like they were extruded from a German factory (a compliment).
Klaus: Haha. That’s skill.
Rudy: Yes. Chris Williams definitely has skill!
Klaus: Well, the maker (who is not dead) knew what they were doing. Love the wide stance too.
Rudy: And it very well could be a branch. Looking at the rest of the chair the maker definitely has skill.
Klaus: The seat looks quite low, too.
Chris: Yup. Also the front edge of the seat looks like it was made on a shaper. Very machine-y. Maybe the maker will speak up when we publish this. And then we can take a class from them.
Rudy: I would definitely take a class from this maker.
Klaus: They’ll get my praise!
Rudy: But do you think it is one of a kind?
Chris: Don’t know. That stretcher dovetail joint is a hand thing.
Klaus: But is that seat extension just glued on?
Chris: That’s the turd in the pudding here. It’s so wrong it’s almost factory-ish.
Rudy: It is puzzling. Whenever I glue up a seat, my front legs go through one half and the back legs go through the other half to provide extra strength.
Chris: That’s the best way to do it.
Klaus: That’s what I’m thinking too. Welsh 18th century glue could not be that good. No reinforcements, no sagging of the extension, no pegs. I don’t buy it.
Chris: The antique dealer should lose their license with this one.
Klaus: They should be forced to sit in the last chair we discussed.
Rudy: Haha, yes!
Chris: THE SPLAT. Give them THE SPLAT.
Klaus: Hahaha.
Rudy: Nooooo! Not the SPLAT, please!
Klaus: I have nothing bad to say about this chair. Just the dealer.
Chris: Yup. Good chair. Crap dealer.
Klaus: Good conclusion. SOLD!
Source: lostartpress.com