Vernacular Furniture
On a coach beano this chair, and many like it, were seen in an Llundudno antique shop a day or so ago. It was rather intriguing in that we’ve never seen anything quite like this. Our speculation was that this and the others were made locally, possibly in a small scale carpentry shop or by the chairs owner. Its construction is relatively straightforward with very little shaping involved. For example a contemporary chair would have a curved back and shaped seat rather that the flat components seen here. This, 100 years ago+ would have been entirely feasible as carpentry skills were far more widespread then than they are today. The word that sprang to mind was vernacular. By this we mean produced locally with little concern for style or fashion.
On a hunch we Googled vernacular furniture. And interestingly a whole set of images of very similar chairs came up.
Meanwhile the Glastonbury Chair repair has been completed and delivered.
What one realises is that when considering, in this instance, chairs there are many many solutions to a common problem. Much depends on the materials available and the experience and skill of the maker. One idea leads to another. In the shop we have some deckchairs and looking at them its not hard to imagine, when comparing them with the Glastonbury chair, how ideas from one thing get incorporated into another.
