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Melissa S.
Newcomer
Joined: 27 Jul 2010
Posts: 2
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| I've heard that Roman numerals stamped into the backs of old side chairs, underneath the slip seats, represent the number of each chair within a set. The slip seat belonging to a certain chair would have a matching Roman numeral stamped into its frame. ...Well that makes perfect sense. However, my four old chairs have numbers stamped into their backs, in that same place, and these are not Roman numerals, but regular numbers: 26,27,28 & 32. What do these numbers represent? The slip seats have no numbers that I can see. My mother and I wondered if maybe they could have been part of a huge set of some type of dining hall chairs? Possibly from the nineteen fifties? They must be fairly old, as the wood on the undersides looks old, and it smells like a vintage or an antique piece should smell. The finish is shellac (thank you for clarifying that earlier) but the stain under the shellac was not brushed on in a manner that I would consider appropriate to a set of high quality chairs. I can see brush strokes on the back slats, and I noticed a drip high on the back of a leg from shellac having been applied too quickly. Maybe the manufacturer was in rush? Or have they been refinished? It so, it still looks like a very old finish. Can you help me determine how old they are?
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AsonnyA
Member
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 140
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Can't guess at the age unless we see them.
1) Some new chairs have numbers, too.
2)Some old chairs have their numbers carved into each the chair frame and the corresponding seat.... these chairs are likely to have horse hair and/or excelsior for padding (Boston area chairs may have marsh grass in lieu of excelsior) and possibly oil cloth for upholstery.
3) Some old chairs have dowels, also, to best fit them onto the chair frame (loose fit), rather than screws.
4) One set of old caned chairs, I re-caned, had numbered (stamped) brass disks tacked on the underside.
The type of numerals is the preference of the company or person who made them and often a series of numbers will correspond to a particular dining set, not that a dining set will have 26, 27, 28, etc., chairs to the set. I have a set of Eastlake chairs with 4 digit numbers on each.
I've seen production chairs with runs in the finish, also.
On the lighter side: Those numbers mean that's how many times a baby or toddler spilled their food onto the chair.... helps determine the age of the chair. And you might aughta check the degree of (ammonia) fuming, too!
Sonny
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