Right, Johnny! (you might recognize him through his comments here on the blog) sent me a couple photos this afternoon while I was at work hoping I might be able to identify this really nice chair he had. I recognized it right away! Kodawood! I don't have any information on who designed it or anything but these are very popular chairs and are highly sought after.
Turns out this chair was snatched up from another scavenger Waaaayyyyyy out in the far west
county on the other side of St. Charles. Johnny!'s pop spotted this jewel at a Sanford-n-Son
type place apparently in a pile of trash! He called Johnny! to take a look who knew trash
from treasure and the chair was had for just a few bucks. After a number of e-mails I
discovered that Johnny! is no slouch with a handful of sandpaper and stripper. Not that kind
of stripper....stain stripper. Get yer dirty mind outa the gutter. He totally broke this beauty
down, stripped and refinished the frame and shells. Talk about a good eye, remember...he still
doesn't know that this is a genuine Kodawood Clam chair! It's just a cool bentwood chair that
he thought was nice enough to breathe life back into!
Then he and his pop redid the upholstery. His plan was to go with real leather by scavenging
the thrift stores for a nice leather jacket to use as a donor but that turned out to be more
difficult than he thought. In the end he and the old man dropped in on a Joann Fabrics to scam
on all the ladies workin' there...not really. They went to procure a nice piece of remnant vinyl
that looks great. His dad used to work for Ford in Hazelwood (Not too far from the
Modtomic Ranch!) during the eighties in the cushion room so Johnny! had a good head start in
the reupholstering effort. The old man took care of the piping (using Johnny!'s grandmother's
sewing machine! Three generations effort!) while Johnny! took care of the reconstruction and
recovering aspects. Looks like there was a lot of work and a lot of fun had taking care of this
great chair!
I wish there were more before pics to see. It's hard to think about taking those pics when you
start a project like this since we get so focused on how good it's gonna look when it's done!
Johnny! has inspired me to ad an E-mail contact to my blog for anybody to ask a question or
submit blog material. This started out as just a quick question and quickly turned into me
begging for more pics and any info he cared to share! I asked Johnny! if he was going to flip
this chair but he said it's a keeper. I don't blame him. He has a great story and probably a
good memory in rescuing this chair with his dad...AND a cool vintage modern chair to sit in
and show off! What do ya think...did Johnny! do good?
If I'm not mistaken, Johnny!'s 1960s Kodawood chair has been attributed to Seymour James Wiener (with a lot of "inspiration" from a 1950s Hans Olsen chair). Johnny! and his dad did a great job restoring his!
ReplyDeleteHi Dana. Gah! I just stumbled across that attribution looking up a dining room set (supposed to be a Henredon Heritage but I can't find a comparable) on Midcentury Modern Finds. I was going to update the posting but ya beat me to it! Good job. Thanks Dana!
DeleteI can see where Grant Featherston got his scape chair inspiration from or vice versa? She's a beauty!
ReplyDeleteYum. White vinyl and warm wood and gorgeous curvy shapes. I'm in love.
ReplyDeleteNicely done, Johnny! They vinyl...and that piping!...looks amazing. Also, Mr. Modtomic, thank you for the email link. There's been a couple of times I've wanted to email you about something I've picked up, but didn't because I didn't want to go through the CL ad to get to you! This is very helpful for future reference!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised they weren't marked. We had a set of six of these beauties a few years ago at my wifes store and after a little cleaning and tightening they found a new home quickly!
ReplyDeleteThat chair is GORGEOUS. Love the white. What a find! And how handy to have a dad who did seat cushions! Great job and great find!
ReplyDeleteGreat chair, but let's be honest there are a couple of issues I see right off the bat that make this chair, in its current situation, less than perfect.
Delete1. There aren't 6 of them just like it.
2. They don't belong to me.
But other than that they're fabulous.
Oh that's gorgeous - congratulations Johnny! - well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks folks, looking forward to the next project.
ReplyDeleteAny ideal how they separated the wood backs from the upholstery? I think they might have to be preyed off as I see no other way. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHelp! I have one of these beautiful chairs and the vinyl needs to be replaced! I’m having trouble finding someone that will be willing to touch it.
ReplyDeleteMy advice: hit up your local Vintage Modern shop for a referal to someone who works on these kind of pieces regularly. Lots, if not all, of the pieces you see at the local shops have had SOME kind of work done to them to make them as beautiful as possible for you! That's why they ain't always so cheap!
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