Federation - chairs - sets of 4

Chest of drawers. Until the mid-19th century, the standard chest had either four long, or three long and two short drawers. Rarely were there any exceptions to this rule. A chest with three drawers, or a series of small upper drawers, purporting to be Georgian, will probably have been converted from a chest-on-chest or tallboy. It is true that the 18th century commode often contain two long deep drawers, but this was a much grander and more decorative piece altogether, intended for drawing rooms, not bedrooms, and in any case was usually made to stand on legs. The standard chest of drawers continued to be made throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries (some Edwardian pine chests even had bracket feet), but variations were introduced during the mid-Victorian period, with some chests having seven or more drawers usually a deep hat drawer and smaller glove compartments. Chests with barley-sugar twist or split bobbin-turned supports date from the mid-19th century.
Federation chairs. Wooden cottage chairs, with spindle backs, featuring Australian motifs pressed into the top rail. The three most common designs were: the kangaroo back with banksia flowers (registered number 252), the emu back with ferns and gum flowers (registered number 253), the lyrebird back with ferns and the Sturt desert pea (registered number 254). There is a fourth design featuring the Australian coat of arms, but this is very scarce.

The Melbourne Chair Company, which manufactured many types of kitchen and office chairs, is still in business under the trade name Melchair Pty Ltd. The so-called Federation chairs were made from about 1906 until the 1930s, although reproductions are now on the market, including carver and high chairs. Some of the original machines in fact are still in use, but the dies used to press the famous backs have been replaced.

Tasmanian blackwood was used for the turned legs and spindles, the seats were usually of kauri pine, sometimes saddled, sometimes caned, and the backs were pressed from hoop pine. When finished, the chairs were dipped in varnish. more...
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