When I was a small child, my paternal grandfather lived about a mile
away from us.
One day he walked up to our house carrying a little red chair that had
been in his family. He wanted my father and his children to have it.
I was the youngest and the only daughter, so I ended up making the chair
my own.
When I was growing up, I kept it sitting in front of an old vanity that I
had in my bedroom until I left home. I could sit on the chair and brush my hair
and “primp.”
Apparently, someone cut the legs down short so the chair could be used
for this purpose.
You can see where the chair back and the top of the front legs are
smoothed down from rubbing against the floor.
Granddaddy didn’t have an easy life when he was young. His father died
when he was two years old, and his mother died when he was four. He had three
older siblings. Apparently he lived with different relatives growing up,
eventually living with his paternal grandmother.
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| Granddaddy in 1889, when he was four years old. |
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| Granddaddy when he was a young man. |
The chair has been painted red since I can remember. I don’t know why
someone painted over the wood with thick red paint. Perhaps it was to brighten
it up for children.
Now I keep the chair in either our den or living room. It’s currently
sitting in the living room, providing a seat for a stuffed snowman that I’ll
keep out a few more weeks.
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| I have an old doll that would probably look better on the chair than this stuffed snowman. |
(Note: Do you think I should try
to remove the red paint and show the original wood? Would that hurt the wood?)
I have other pieces of furniture plus other treasures that have been in
my family a long time. I’m trying to record their stories so I don’t forget and
so my nieces and nephews and other family members will know their meaning.
And I have so many family stories to record, including my father’s
writings and letters he wrote his sister during World War II.
Not all my memories are good, but that’s the way life is. The good can
be remembered, and the bad can be learned from.
Do you have any pieces of furniture that have been in your family for a
long time?
That is a very nice chair, Tina! Sadly, I don't have anything from my childhood. We had a fire in our apartment building when I was a little girl and lost quite a bit of things.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful memories that chair holds- I wouldn't take the paint off, but that's just me. I have one table tha used to sit beside my papa's recliner, and a cake pantry that was my grandmas.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet post. Such wonderful memories attached to this chair.
ReplyDeleteoh i love this post! lucky you to have such a wonderful keepsake!
ReplyDeleteoh, i wish my Grandfather Pop-Pop was alive & i would ask. what a great piece. i know my father has done several pieces - we had buffet that he took off years & a desk - you would never guess seeing it all the work he did. but they are true masterpieces now. we prefer the real wood over the painted wood for sure. have you researched it on the net? sounds like a good idea to me. you might have to (what they call the doodads in the seat?) they made have to be redo - are they wood too? maybe if you know of some one that is really good at wood work - give them a ring? guess it has to do with how much doe (money) you want to put into it? ( :
ReplyDeleteOh Tina do not remove the paint.... my Grandma used to paint everything red and it reminds me of that. I think if you remove the paint you will have problems, I did strip a chair very similar with the cut off legs (interesting glad you talked about that) and the chair it is not the same. Red is cool:) Oh you are so lucky to have such a memory piece. Hug B
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't strip the paint. The red gives it character, and is part of the chair's story :-) It's a great piece!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful story -- I love hearing about your grandfather learning to walk and it's adorable. As for the paint -- I agree, it is part of the chair's story. And from a purely practical point of view, once the legs were off the chair, the value of the paint or original finish becomes a moot point. I'm thinking value isn't the issue -- it's the thought. And I do love the red! It makes perfect sense with the story!
ReplyDeletethe paint removal would certainly hurt the woven seat if not the wood itself. i think it is charming.
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure! Isn't it wonderful to have something that fills you with such memories? And I agree with the commenters, I wouldn't remove the red either.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of childhood memories, but no actual items. I agree with everyone who says to keep it red.....it would be a different chair otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI love the story behind your red chair. I would leave it as it is. There is a chair that makes its rounds with the cousins ... it's a little rocking chair and when a new babe is born, the chair is packed up and shipped out. It is on the way to a new babe as I type!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story. Two things are related and carry your story . As for the chair? It's easy for me to say take the red paint off and show the wood. However, I'm not doing it. It' a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteWhat a charming piece of furniture with so much history. I would consult an expert in woodworking before trying to remove the paint. The red is really bright and beautiful, so maybe it can remain that way. :)
ReplyDeleteNo unfortunately we don't have much of anything passed down in our family.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I really like the red. It adds character and is a reminder that a child used it.
I have taken paint off antiques before and it won't damage wood but find out what the seat is woven from first because that could be damaged. I love the red too though. I do have treasured family items; my grandfathers portrait which has graced the walls of several museums, a silver horse sculpture of my fathers, my mothers Hope chest, and a rocking chair my great grandmother brought over from Germany.
ReplyDeletewhat a GREAT story and a wonderful treasure!! i would leave it red because that's the way you remember it!!
ReplyDeletei don't have any furniture and very few other treasures from my grandparents. i have saved my childrens treasure but i have boys and they don't seem too excited about it!!
I love the beautifully illustrated story and would leave that wonderful red chair untouched as you remember it. Your post reminded me of two chairs in our house important to me: my rocking chair as a reading chair for two-year-old me + an old chair now residing in our bedroom which has been in our family for about 250 years. Both are very special but for very different reasons. I wish I could attach a photo, but it will appear in my Saturday blog post entitled What's Your Ethnic Mix?
ReplyDeletehttp://plainandfancygirl.com or just click on my photo. Tina, I love your choice of blog topics which often align with mine.
Looks like everyone else has already chimed in to tell you not to attempt to strip the paint. For all you know, this chair may have always been painted. The paint is part of its history, a history that was spent in your family, and I would leave it exactly as it is.
ReplyDelete