Chair, Rocking
Colchester Historeum
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| Nom de l'objet : | Chair, Rocking |
| Artiste ou artisan : | Sibley Brothers ? |
| Catégorie de l'objet : | Seating Furniture |
| Numéro d'accession : | 78.699 |
| Date de fin de production : | 1978-12-31 |
| Description : | May be early Sibley, or pre-Sibley. |
| Commentaires : | This chair came from a home built in 1832. The donor believed it to be an early Sibley, or even a pre-Sibley. |
| Fonctions : | The notion of rocking furniture does not begin with the rocking chair as rocking cradles appeared in illuminated manuscripts as far back as the 11th century. It was not until the 17th or 18th century when rockers were affixed to regular chairs and became mobile. Historians have long questioned and speculated over the invention of the rocking chair. It has been argued that Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, is the individual responsible for inventing the rocking chair in the 1760s. Although this idea has been refuted by many historians due to a lack of evidence, rocking chairs are commonly accepted as being an American invention. The design of rocking chairs reflected the popular chair styles that were flourishing in Europe however, for many foreigners, the popularity of rocking chairs in North America was a mystery. Throughout its history the rocking chair has been continually studied by scholars and is a topic of great interest for antique collectors. The period of most interest is the 19th century when the rocking chair was at the highest peak of its popularity in North America. The rocking chair was especially popular in Upper Canada, the predecessor of Ontario, where many rural settlements were established after the American Revolution when British Loyalists immigrated to Canada. Rocking chairs were one of the simplest pieces of furniture to construct and were easily accessible to all social classes. Most rocking chairs constructed before the beginning of the 19th century were conventional straight-back, armless chairs that were modified through the addition of rockers. One of the early preferred patterns of craftsmen was to fabricate chairs that were short and thick with cradle-shaped boards and long thin rockers referred to as carpet cutters. It was not until the 19th century when furniture design moved towards developing a more relaxed posture. Before the 1850s, furniture including rocking chairs were constructed by individual craftsmen with various backgrounds and skills who constructed one piece at a time. This was a period of time when many individuals were immigrating to Canada, including Ontario, from countries such as Germany, Holland, and the United Kingdom. Many of these new residents were specialized craftsmen who made the furniture to remind themselves of their homeland. With the emergence of the railway and large manufacturing companies in the second half of the 19th century, mass-manufactured furniture was more readily available and more easily shipped to different areas of North America. Due to the mass commercialization of furniture, the traditional characteristics made by individual craftsmen in the early 19th century became significantly less noticeable. It was also during this time that the middle class was on the rise and were conscious of what furniture was fashionable which allowed some styles to flourish while others faded into near obscurity. Rocking chairs consist of many different features. The most distinctive feature of a rocking chair is the two curved slats or rockers that are fastened to the feet of the chair. The rockers, which were historically referred to as skates, provide the chair with the ability to rock back and forth. Rocking chairs also consist of four legs (two in the front and two in the back), a seat, two arms and/or armrests, a back, and two finials that are located on the top of the two back legs. Many of the back pieces of rocking chairs were designed to conform to the human back by being bent to provide comfort for the user. Rocking chair designs were also influenced by other factors. For example, some 19th century rocking chairs, known as hoop skirt rockers, also had distinctive armrests as they were shortened to accommodate large Victorian skirts. Measurement marks were often made with a chisel to indicate the height of a rung or slat as well as the position of the arm. Chair makers often hid these measurement marks by modifying it into a design that would be carried all around the arm and leg as decoration. In other instances, measurement marks were covered with paint. Some popular paint colours used by chair makers were brown, dark or light red, pumpkin yellow, grey, and blue. Between 1840 and 1870 red and black were the most popular colours that could be found on painted rocking chairs. Freehand decorations were also added with stencilled fruit, flower, or leaf motifs as well as landscapes. In the 1880s, stencil decorations became simpler but were still present. This information is provided courtesy of Krystal Tanner and Stephanie Micikyan from a document entitled "Collections Research and the Ideal Collection" that was completed as a requirement in the Museum Management and Curatorship program at Fleming College. ; The slat-back rocker was one of the earliest and most common styles of rocking chair until the middle of the 19th century. The slat-back style was originally developed in the 17th century and was widely used throughout the European landscape. By the 19th century, the style had migrated to North America and had been simplified by North American chair makers. The chair makers, who were less concerned with changing styles than their European counterparts, continued to construct these chairs on old-fashioned treadle lathes. The number of slats in a slat-back may vary from two to five slats with three being the most common number. They are also found in many shapes including arrow and spindle style. Before 1850, slat-backs were constructed throughout the settled parts of Canada by chair makers and home carpenters. As the popularity of the slat-back rocker declined with the rise of Boston Rockers, many of them were repurposed into bedroom chairs or were relegated to be used as outdoor furniture in gardens or on porches. This information is provided courtesy of Krystal Tanner and Stephanie Micikyan from a document entitled "Collections Research and the Ideal Collection" that was completed as a requirement in the Museum Management and Curatorship program at Fleming College. |
| Hauteur : | 89 cm |
| Longueur : | 35 cm |
| Largeur : | 60 cm |
| Établissement : |
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| Ville de l'établissement : | Truro |
| Province de l'établissement : | Nova Scotia |
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