From our understanding these chairs were made in Czechoslovakia in the late 1920’s, manufacturer unknown. For their time the construction techniques used are quite advanced utilising a ‘push-in seat’ and back flutes located with spring-edge wire. However the most significant thing about these chairs is the general proportion and balance of the design.
A client contacted us saying that she had acquired two art deco European chairs requiring restoration. Upon initial inspection we found the chairs had been shabbily re-upholstered and covered in decades of grime. As we stripped away the fabric on these chairs it exposed some of the original upholstery providing enough information for an authentic reconstruction.
The first step was several construction repairs to the timber frames then removing the layers of grime. The show-wood components of the frames were then gently sanded back, stained a mid-tone Oak then three coats of clear lacquer. Then with the upholstery we re-constructed the sprung edge seats and backs by lacing in the springs, fabricated the spring edge wire and tying down the springs. We then sewed on the hessian overlays and ring-clipped on polyurethane edge moulding. The seats and backs were then layered with premium foam and polyester overlays. The client’s fabric selection suited the chairs and was practical to upholster. The panels were cut being carefully pattern matched then largely pre-sewn but requiring some hand stitching.
The re-furbishing of these chairs combined traditional methods with modern materials however did not compromise the design integrity. Our client was overjoyed with the result and the chairs now take pride of place in her lounge room.
