Posted 3 years ago
Golgatha
(206 items)
Here's my latest acquisition: A Napoleon III fauteuil à la reine. Louis XV style. 'Crinoline width'. Carved and polished beechwood. Wheels on the front legs. French ?, ca. 1850-1870. I bought it at an internetauction. I was the only bidder and I got it for the equivalent of USD 100, which is a bargain, I think. I'll use it as tv-chair. It will keep me in upright position all evening. At least I think so...
Oh, the crinolines! As a little girl in the mid 50s, my mother, an excellent seamstress, made all my clothes.
Her favorite items to make were Sunday dresses and Easter dresses, Easter dresses being a tad more fancy.
I think the more flared out the skirt was, the better it was. We called crinolines “stand-out slips” because they made the skirt stand out, literally.
When you sat down, you tried not to crush the skirt of the dress…it needed some space of its own!
Ah, crinolines:
*snip*
‘When you were very small—so small that the lightest puff of breeze blew your little crinoline skirt over your head—you had seen something nasty in the woodshed.
*snip*
https://wecanreaditforyouwholesale.com/1900-1945/cold-comfort-farm-stella-gibbons/
Oh, and cool chair, Golgatha. };-)
Don't hope for a photo of me in crinoline. I'm not a transvestite ...
Golgatha, Eh, what's that saying? Whatever blows your skirt up. };-)
Crinolines strike me as way too much work to make and maintain, never mind wear.
With regard to the chair: do you think the casters are original? If so, that might edge the age up a tiny bit:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US174794A/en
Thanks keramikos. The chair is European so US patented castors are irrelevant in this case. They look very worn and original on the chair.
Golgatha, You're welcome. :-)
Yeah, I suppose U.S. patent holders had enough trouble getting their fellow citizens to respect their proprietary rights (see the vintage sewing machine patent struggles) without trying to mud wrestle Europeans. };-)
Here is more furniture caster information:
https://ourpastimes.com/date-furniture-casters-4673352.html
https://pegsandtails.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/geo_i-walnut_sofa_c1725_02h.jpg
*snip*
Leather-wheeled castor on a George I walnut sofa, circa 1725.
*snip*
https://pegsandtails.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/castor-eyes-over-this/
Now I know everything about castors. Thanks again.
Golgatha, You're welcome again. :-)
I don't know everything about furniture casters/castors, so I was still poking around, and found this:
*snip*
French chairs often had wooden castors so that they would not scratch wooden floors. In England where carpets were generally favoured, castors in the 18th century were often made from brass. Some were stamped by their makers (Cope & Collinson are particularly well known). In the 19th century chairs were also made with ceramic castors. Chairs have a higher value with original castors.
*snip*
https://www.theoriginalchaircompany.co.uk/antique-seat-information/
I can't tell from your picture; are the castor wheels wood, or something else?
Thanks. I've added a photo of one of the two castors. Ceramic ? Stone ? Maybe you can tell ? Thanks.
Golgatha, Wow, that is some interesting color and texture.
My initial impression tempted me to say "bone," but a minor search didn't turn up any evidence of that.
Given the provenance (French), they're probably wood (with brass hardware), don't you think?
Many thanks again my friend keramikos. The castors feel very hard and 'cold', so although I can't be sure, I'm tempted to say some sort of stone ?
Golgatha, That sure doesn't sound like wood, does it?
A casual search for stone castors didn't turn up anything, either.
Perhaps they're ceramic, and the texture I see is crazing.
Golgatha, One more possible material just occurred to me: ivory.
Its Mohs scale rating is fairly low, so it would be gentle on floors, although I don't know how well it'd stand up as castor wheels:
https://www.ecse.rpi.edu/~schubert/Educational-resources/Materials-Hardness.pdf
Also, I don't think ivory would necessarily feel hard and cold.
I'm still intrigued by the appearance of that castor wheel.
Most kind of you keramikos. I would think that ivory would be too soft. Think of the many ivory carvings made by clever Chinese artisans.
Golgatha, I suspect you're right. Marble would also be out, as I know from personal experience how fragile that can be.
So I think we're back to ceramic or possibly stone.
I don't know if there's any kind of non-destructive test you could perform to analyze the material of those castor wheels.
If one could find a photo of a similar grey castor, with known origin, that might solve the mystery ...
Golgatha, The problem is that I've seen plenty of pictures of antique castors, but none that really look like yours, e.g.:
https://www.ironanarchy.com/furniture-casters
https://laurelleaffarm.com/item-pages/furniture/antique-wood-wheel-casters-old-wood-caster-furniture-wheels-large-lot-of-40-Laurel-Leaf-Farm-item-no-s11473.htm
Here is some advice on cleaning antique castors, and the castors they use for their demo have brown porcelain wheels:
https://priorypolishes.co.uk/how-to-restore-and-clean-antique-castors/