Lovely Lines

This is the thing I love about old furniture, that makes me want to save it: all those lovely curved lines.

This maple rocker was most likely made by the Detroit Chair Factory, although it does not have the factory stamp. Some of these chairs just had a paper or card with the manufacturer's name tacked to the bottom. I've caned a couple of marked "Detroit Chair" chairs, and the lines of the back of this rocker are very similar.

I've never caned a double curve like this rocker back, so this one will be another learning experience. (The double curve means that the back is curved both from the top view and from the side view.)

It's in nice solid shape. The seat is a puzzle, though. The pine slats on it are probably not original, but when I cleaned it underneath, I found no holes to indicate that it was originally a cane seat.

The only thing that was loose was where one back leg went into the rocker. It had been pinned in with a finishing nail, which started a very slight crack. When I tried to pull the nail out, it (the nail) was broken about an eighth of an inch below the head! And the break was old and slightly rusted. Huh!

Chair caning is probably the most "lost" of any of my "lost arts". I have met a lot of knitters, weaver, and tatters, but only a very few chair caners. Caning a chair is a labor-intensive process. It can take me anywhere from ten to fourteen hours to cane a chair, depending on how many holes there are around the edge of the seat.

Even though I don't do this all in one go, I certainly feel I've earned every cent of my "$1.50 a hole plus materials" by the time I get done. But a good caning job can last ten, fifteen, even twenty years, and renews a perfectly good antique chair, so if you are the one paying, consider it money well spent!