Bridge Chairs were originally designed and made in the late 1930’s originating from Europe. Bridge Chairs are compact in size allowing them to be used in most rooms, suiting bedrooms, to accompany dining tables and even offices. It was said they were for “ladies of leisure for games of Bridge, afternoon tea and gossiping”. The popularity and manufacturing of this design spread throughout the western world with the chairs being made until the late 1950’s. The frames were usually constructed from Beech or Oak but in Australia native hardwoods were extensively used then stained to client requirements.
We had undertaken previous work for a client who again approached us with a Bridge Chair having belonged to her parents. She rescued the chair from a trailer heading for the tip. This chair was originally in a set of four having been purchased by her parents for their farm house in the wheatbelt town of Karlgarin.
We removed the existing upholstery then repaired the frame joints with two-pack resin and screwed the chair rails. The arms and legs were sanded back having been constructed from Jarrah which was still structurally sound but had been bleached due to decades on a veranda. The show-wood Jarrah was stained and three coats of lacquer applied being sanded between coats.
The upholstery foundation was kept original with jute webbing fitted to the seat, coil springs laced then tied-down then a hessian overlay fitted and the back also having jute webbing fitted then just a hessian overlay. We then step into the present and laminate premium foam padding with bonded polyester overlays which provides superior comfort to the original flock and fibre stuffing. Our client with her sister had selected and abstract floral design fabric for the upholstery which reminded them of “gum trees on the farm”. The result speaks for its self and is best summed up by our client’s comments. “Thanks to Parker Interiors for restoring it so beautifully so it will last for the next generations to come”.
