I've been very excited to work on this antique boudoir chair that was given to me a couple months ago. This week I brought the chair out of storage and got down to business. If you've ever wondered what the insides of an antique chair look like, follow along as I tear it all the way down to the frame.
The before picture. The primary issues with this chair are that the seat fabric is worn through (as we'll see later, this is because a few of the springs under the seat have come untied), the show wood looks worn, and the fabric is old and musty.
One of the things I love about this chair is the way the tacks on the arms contrast with the delicate style of the frame and fabric. Here you can see how the wood on the arms is scuffed and faded.
The first step in tearing down a chair is to remove the black dust cloth on the bottom. Here we can see the webbing and some of the spring apparatus. Also notice that tacks rather than staples are used to fasten all of the upholstery. This tells me that the last time this piece was upholstered may have been 50 or more years ago before staples were commonly used in upholstery.
Next we remove the fabric and burlap from the outside back. The pieces of cotton you see are holding the buttons on the inside back.
On the outside back rail we find a clue to the making of this chair: a tag that tells us this is frame number 35 with a mahogany finish.
After the fabric comes off, we reveal the padding. Burlap provides a scaffolding on which cotton batting is then layered. This chair has horsehair (actual hair, not synthetic!) in the center of the inside back to provide additional cushioning. The burlap will be replaced with new material because it is stretched out, but all of the cotton batting and horsehair will be re-used.
After the padding comes off, we get to the springs and webbing. The burlap covering the springs has seriously deteriorated and some of the springs have come loose from their ties. The webbing on the back has also loosened over time and will be replaced.
A close-up of the coil springs once the burlap is removed. Each spring is tied to the others in multiple places and then tied to the frame. Here we can see that many of the ties have ripped. The springs themselves are still very strong and will be re-used.
After all of the upholstery and tacks are removed, we are left with the frame. This one is made out of soft wood with dowel joints. Only the show wood (the legs and arms in this case) is treated with stain and varnish while the inner parts of the frame that will be covered with fabric are left in their natural state.
Chair deconstructed. Since the chair was wobbly in places, I decided to re-glue the frame. Using a mallet and a pry-bar (used sparingly) I was able to totally deconstruct the chair into individual pieces with the exception of the three pieces that form the back, as those joints were still quite sturdy.
Next time we'll be putting it all back together, so stay tuned!