couple of questions on old chair

[JDarvall]

Hi,
I took home this chair because I liked its lines. Bit too weathered to fix up I feel. Something to hang on the wall and think about. (picture 1)

What I'm curious about is the floral printing on the wide bow there..(pictures 2 and 3)
Did they put that in while steam bending it. Thinking maybe, as soon as it was pulled out of the steamer, while it was still soft, they quickly layed some kind of stamp over it and belted the print in before bending it... ?

Hoping someone may know.

Also , just some general history on it be nice so I can sound mildly clever when someone asks me what it is.

thanks kindly
Jake

[hap97]

Appears that the chair is complete and not broken, just badly weathered.
A bit of time and care and it can have another 80 years (or so) of useful life.

I will also be interested to hear about its history.
Hilton

[echnidna]

Melbourne Chair Company (now defunct) made many thousands of steam bent and imprinted chairs.

They made the kangaroo chair known by collectors & restorers.

Maybe your chair is one of theirs, though its a different construction style to the kangaroo chair.

[JDarvall]

thanks

You'd know more than me on that Bob. I suppose it be hard to put a finger on exactly where its from. So many makers here and there.

I could restore it Hilton. But up close I'm not sure you'd think it had 80 years. Breaks, complete splits. The undercarrage is seperate to the seat. I've just got the seat perched on top for the picture. Used to have wicker thatching on top there. That must have broken and some bloke nailed a bit of mdf ontop.

Does it make sense to you about the printing being stamped straight out of the steamer while its soft ?

[echnidna]

yes that was an orthodox process in the olden days

[JDarvall]

ta. I'm going to give that a go.