After a buyer picked up the Eames Aluminum Group dining table from my booth (44) at the Green Shag Market antique mall I figured I better get down there and install another dining table in it's place. Since I was headed that direction anyway I thought I would pick up these smashing (OK, they WILL BE smashing...someday) dining chairs that had been put up on c-list. Look, I was going that way Anyway! Don't judge me. ...it's true, I can't stop.
Yes, I know...kinda rough. If you think they look rough, you should take a sniff of 'em. On
second thought, I wouldn't wish that on anyone...at least as they sit. They did not come from a
Smoke Free home. Definitely not. The are Stinky! But that really is the worst of it. The finish is
rough but I think I can help that. The upholstery is shot, but that can be fixed. The framework is
solid. No real wobbles to speak of.
I could have swore that I've seen these chairs on the web lots of times, but - of course - as soon
as I started trying to ID them (maker or designer) I couldn't find them anywhere! I'm not
expecting them to be by a famous designer but I would like to know the manufacturer. I did
manage to find a clean set on flatout design, a sellers blog stationed in Chicago, to see how nice
these might look once cleaned up all pretty and such. Still, no other identifying information. So
as of present, I still got nothin'.
I took the seat pads off so as to get rid of the fabric and padding. I won't bring these stinky
things inside even the garage until the odor is gone. Also, it makes it easy to stack them up very
efficiently! You can see that these have had a lot of use. They look to be fairly high quality chairs.
Nicely put together and rock solid.
This "W" is the only discernible marking on the chairs. There are no tags (except some tape
with numbers ostensibly to match seat pad with frame) or other stamps to help me along. What
manufacturers had a "W" stamp? Winchendon? Doubt it. Any ideas?
Hey Mr. M. I spent a little time trying to ID these the other morning when I thought that I would be getting them. ( I figured you got them!) They look high end to me. The way the back/arm meets the front leg made me think Widdicomb, but looking at your photos makes me think Danish. Good pick!
ReplyDeleteI think these chairs were designed by Lawrence Peabody for the Richardson Brothers Furniture Company of Sheboygan, WI. I had a pair of similar chairs with orange fabric and there was a tag under the seat. Here is a link to more info about Mr. Peabody:
ReplyDeletehttp://lawrencepeabody.tumblr.com/
Hope that helps!
I saw a set of six of these with a Yugoslavian dining room table a few months ago. Everything had the same finish, so I assume they were together originally.
ReplyDeleteGood bones don'y lie,those will be some really handsome chairs!
ReplyDeleteNice set! What type of upholstery are you thinking?
ReplyDeleteGorgeous chairs!!
ReplyDeleteI thought Widdicomb as well. Maybe something by Robsjohn Gibbings. They also bear similarities to some of the Hans Wegner pieces. Nice lines and quaility for a deal is always in style no matter the attribution!
ReplyDeleteNice chairs! They look very much like the library chairs designed by Lawrence Peabody for Richardson Nemschoff. The only place they look a little different to me is where the back/arms meet the front legs. In all the pictures I've seen of the Peabody chairs, the arm piece overhangs the tapered end of the leg just a bit. Yours appear to be flush. But who knows...if they stayed in production for a while, maybe some changes were made. Fingers crossed that they turn out to be the real thing!
ReplyDeleteI have the exact same chair with the same marking. Did you ever find out about the "W" marking? We really think they're Peabody chairs.... but where would the "W" come into play?
ReplyDeleteHey! I have the same chair. Were you ever able to identify it for sure? We're really thinking Peabody, but what would the "W" be for?
ReplyDeletekatienoellewis@yahoo.com
These are Peabody for Richardson.
ReplyDelete