Wednesday, January 7, 2009

An Old Wicker Seat



An Old Wicker Seat



an antique stenciled chair with a wicker seat




This little seat is an antique piece that my grandmother handed down to my sister.

She uses it now as a seat for a teddy bear that is probably older than that chair.

It is an antique that my grandmother gladly let us play with when we visited with our dolls and had tea parties.

We could never sit on it, but the dolls were more than welcome to use it.

After dressing up in some of my Gram's clothes, scarfs, costume jewelry, and shoes, we would all sit down at a small table and partake of tea and cookies.

That tea always had milk in it - my grandmother didn't want us to get burned. It took me years to try tea again, and without the milk it is now one of my favorite beverages.

We never knew who did the stenciling or painting on the chair, or where she got it from, but as far back as I can remember, it was always around.

She never did any work on it, all of the paint and the wicker seat is original - and it has held up pretty well over the years considering it did get used by little girls.

I never thought wicker to be that durable, but after reading up about it, I discovered that if the materials are grown in the right environment, it is quite long lasting and strong.

Of course this isn't the beautiful wickerwork that today's Conservatory Furniture is constructed of, but it must have been grown correctly in its time to have held up this long.

And it is certainly not as comfortable as today's wicker either - no foam cushions to relax in. The smoothly woven rattan of today doesn't snag you either like this chair's seat does.

Still though, we treasure it for its memories and enjoyment that it brought to us from our Gram.










16 comments:

  1. What a cute chair! It really makes a nice antique treasure.. :)

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  2. What a cool pic and chair, my wife would love it

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  3. I like the painting on that little rattan. I had something similar when I was a kid :)

    Sue's Daily Photography

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  4. Hi Cashmere - yes it is special to us - with lots of memories!

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  5. Hi Susanne - there were more around back then - harder to find these days though.

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  6. Thanks, Hapi! I'll come check you out shortly!

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  7. Nice stuff here. The chair is attractive, and you have a great knack for visualizing things.

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  8. My Husband's Grandmother has a chair like that but it has been painted a strange color of mint green. I love the Pennsylvania Dutch style painting on yours.

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  9. It's a beautiful little chair and a lovely family heirloom, Kathy. Not to mention the nice memories!

    And your photo is well composed and wonderfully clear!

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  10. Thanks, Sharkbytes, for your kind words. Thanks for visiting!

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  11. Hi Laura - thanks for stopping by! There seems to be a few of these around!

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  12. Thanks, Lynda - the memories are the best part!

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  13. A beautiful memory you shared and what a great stenciled chair. I just love this type of thing.

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  14. Hi Kathy - I used to have a little chair like that, too! I'm not 100% certain of its provenance, but a relative told me that it had been bought in New Mexico.

    Bobbie

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  15. Hi Bobbie - they must have been the rage in their day. It might be interesting to do some research on it. If I find anything, I will post it!

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