Tag archives: chair

RR inherited a chair with a four-post back. She was told by her grandmother that it was Amish, and she asked me if this was indeed its origin. Perhaps the form has some Shaker or Amish elements, but for the most part it falls into the category of Americana legacy furniture – what my mother called […]

How did a massive, ornately carved, reportedly uncomfortable sofa – shaped like a gondola with arms of carved walnut supporting a pair of winged sphinx figures – get to a remote farm in Buffelspoort, Rustenburg District of South Africa? This is a short story about how the most out of place objects are usually found […]

Because of the way our bodies bend, the most comfortable position, when not prone, tends to be with the buttocks emplaced some distance above the ground (depending on the length of our legs) and our backs resting, if possible, against a vertical surface. This is known as “sitting,” and, for all the improvements, in housing, […]