This set of 12 chairs came with a house I recently purchased. There are no identifying marks on them. The previous owner knew nothing about them having inherited them from an uncle. They are rawhide with nailheads. The rawhide is starting to crack and I would like to care for them properly. Or at least learn some more information about them!
Thank you!
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If there is no information at all on the chairs or under the seat this will be almost impossible to find out who has made this chair. The best I can do for you is to give you a site that will help you take care of the chair and keep it from cracking or being destroyed. rusticartistry.com/
I am not sure anyone on this site can give you accurate information on your chairs for a variety of reasons.
First, it is almost impossible to tell from a photo if you have rawhide, or semi-tanned hide or if it is a good imitation of a hide. Someone would have to look at it, touch it, and smell it.
If it is determined to be a true raw hide or semi tanned (not sure if it is cow, deer, goat or other) you would want to talk to a professional leather shop and ask what products to use to clean and preserve. A true hide piece is a niche market and there are not a lot of experts out there you will get a lot of opinions from a crowd sourcing site but, but since you need facts, it will take a niche expert to help you and in most cases it will need to be done in person.
My first feeling when looking at these chairs was that the hides were done after market, maybe in the 1950s or 1960, meaning it came another way, but was done maybe by a hobbiest. I think this because the nails are not evenly distributed and have an amateur look them. Again, I am speculating, because I am not an expert on upholstery, but have done my share of hobby pieces when I was much younger and my results often looked like this piece with uneven studding.
The other challenge of seeing just a photo/photos is it is impossible to see the construction of the chairs themselves to date them. At first blush they look late 1800s early 1900s, but they could be a repro of this elegant and simple style.
I suggest taking them to a place that specializes in chair re-upholstery and if there is a subset in your town of an expert who specializes in leathers, that would be your ideal place to get more info.
They can tell you from soup to nuts what you have and how to preserve it. It may be a real hide vs. a machine made because it does look like it is going see through vs cracking, but again, it is hard to tell from a photo. If it is a faux hide, there would be totally different products needed to clean and preserve.
I would love to learn more about what you have. Please post back so we can all learn!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you so much for your response! I am meeting with a leather upholstery/antique dealer in town. I will post back what we learn!
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