Lovely and delicate.

Isn’t that beautiful.

Obviously built for smaller framed people. So lovely!

Beautiful chair!

Chairs-- light chairs like this always interest me because the Egyptians knew how to make lightweight chairs you could pick up with one or two hands, if you were strong enough, but they were still sturdy enough to sit or stand on.

That "technology"- lightweight joinery- was lost for thousands of years and maybe it was the 1500s again before a chair became something other than a plank or a box with a plank for a back, again. And now, of course a lightweight chair of fine wooden joinery has become relatively expensive again. There's lots of lightweight chairs made of other stuff, or wood chairs put together with cam bolts and such. but joinery -- not so much.

I don't imagine normal furniture of today will be around, people dispose of things too quickly and much of it is not made to last. But how many chairs from 1790 are around, although there were a lot less of them to begin with, so there may be a surprising number, relatively. Maybe things like Thomas Moser chairs --but they are hardly representative of 2000s chairs. I think people need to recognize the specialness of something over a long period of time in order for it to survive.

One other thing I look at is cars. In 1956-57 Lincoln Motor Division produced a car called the Mark II as standalone model, a hand-built car that came in one configuration, albeit tons of colors fabrics and finishes available. They cost around $10,000, about $100,000 today, and they lost money on each one,~$1000 allegedly. They made 3005 units. They were, and are considered one of the most beautiful American cars ever built.

I bring this up, because there are a surprising number of these around today, probably because people recognized that they were special, way back during the time when 5 or 10 year old cars were considered used cars, regardless of what they were.

ETA: compare this to the production of 1956-57 Chevy Bel Air, 150, 210 (same body type) at almost 3.2 million.

Gorgeous.

“Do you think anything made today will be around in 2256? ”

Yes!

The Monobloc will always be.

Monobloc

Interesting…

https://youtu.be/JwApFGwMIMQ?si=Q3G2zIQHfvpP0yBj

I think youneed to snap that up, wait a few years then go on Antiques Roadshow and watch the Keno brothers faint at your good fortune. It really is quite lovely.

I remember when we backed our 1952 Buick into a junk yard ( it only ran in reverse and was very old when we inherited it) , they said it will come back as four Toyotas. Wish we had been able to keep it.

Beautiful chair, detailed and delicate. I could look at it and have an appreciation for the workmanship but no desire to own. The Mark II however..... that's a different story! I still wouldn't want to own it but boy I'd love to ride in it. Friday nights during the summer our town closes Main St and has live music with rotating themed auto shows. Pretty sure I've seen a Mark at one of them.

And the gas filler is behind a pivoting tail light

Our old Buick had an antenna that you could twist with a knob from the inside. The hood opened from both sides, not the front, and you could take it off completely. No power steering of course so sometimes the passenger had to help turn the steering wheel in tight turns.

Is that a Lincoln? A beauty.

I have chairs that aren't really for sitting. I could have this one just as an object. If I had a bigger house I would probably have a room with chairs not for sitting lined up against the walls.

A not sitting room - how unique 🤣

Reality. What happens with a 1700 chair in our house. No one sits on it because it holds stuff. (I removed some of the stuff for the pic.)

It’s lovely.

I have quite a few chairs mainly just for looks because I have a chair collection problem.

Pretty soon, I’ll have to start hanging them from the ceiling.

...I have a chair collection problem.

I have a table collection problem...however I still don't have what I need at the moment.

I have a not-very-big house, and I have at least 4 chairs that are questionable for sitting but look pretty. I have been doing a bit of a purge this week (cooler temps = nesting?) and decided to put one chair, which was just taking up space and looking cute but definitely not "sittable," out on the curb. Then I backtracked and put it in the garage, because it will look cute at our beach house? But still, no one can sit on it because I think it would break so what is wrong with me? I may put it back on the curb.

I too need a house that's big enough to store all the pretty chairs that no one can sit on.

I also have a very cute old bench that I picked up for free, intending to recover the seat...it's been sitting in my home office for months, not recovered, not even admired because I had stuff piled on it. Earlier today I literally walked around my house with it and realized it doesn't fit anywhere. But it's cute. Maybe I can hang it from the ceiling.

That's a very peaceful chair. It looks as though it's been appreciated it's whole life.

That chair is a delicate beauty!

@Jilly, I saw an Andy Warhol exhibit at the Rice Museum in Houston called "Raid the Icebox," in which he hung old (mostly Windsor) chairs from the ceiling and some on the wall. The exhibit was of items found at thrift stores or collected from free boxes.

Pal's chair reminds me of Sheraton, from the Georgian period. If it is American instead of English, then it is much more valuable and might be a combination of styles. It looks like there is some loose fabric in the front, but that is an easy fix.

That’s amazing, Lars! Thanks for sharing the links. :)

It's American Federal, and right now American first period furniture, unless it's something really remarkable, is going for very modest prices.

This American Federal Chair (from the period you described) is listed at $3,200.00 and is not nearly as delicate or nice (IMO) as the one you show for $800, and it does not even have arms.

Yeah well, that's what provenance will do for you.