01/12/2024
Furniture Stories Number Two...
Quick version: dining chairs poised ready for smart new seat pads.
Background version:
Three dining chairs came with us from the Cotswolds. Unclaimed and unwanted remnants from the estate of a friend's late aunt, they'd languished in a barn, then an open-sided shed for a couple of years, quietly deteriorating.
Our holiday cottage will be for two - so two dining chairs - but the third? Well, we don't have anything for the dressing table in the bedroom...
Working on the "don't ask: don't get" principle... I did just that: "I think Aunt Ruth would be delighted if her chairs will be appreciated in a new life in a new home."
Closer inspection, while cleaning off the dust and bird pooh, revealed what I'd call "historic repairs" on one - bolts, bracing, newer timber spliced into the legs - implying it is significantly older than the other two. This was confirmed by Tim, the restorer I'd already contacted.
So... we now know we have one (much repaired) late 18th Century original and two, more modern, exact copies. All (!) we need do now is find the 'right' dining table for them - but that, as they say, is another story for another time...
