I am finished the careful disassembly of the Papa Bear chairs upholstery, and it is absolutely fascinating. I have dozens of photos. And there are a number of misconceptions in the sketchy information available here and there.
Foremost, the back panel with the rectangles and buttons is actually sewed from one uncut piece of fabric. It has arching darts stitched in that create the rectangles and create the dimples for the buttons. Also, the darts make the whole piece flare at the top, so the "waist" is slimmer. I have noticed on improperly reupholstered specimens, the waist bulges out a lot (beer belly), because the darts haven't been stitched in.
And there is a lot of hand stitching involved.
And not one staple. A thousand furniture tacks, but not one staple.
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Yes, very interesting!
The lack of staples is because of the vintage, I think. At some point pretty much every shop switched to pneumatic stapling because it's faster and easier and the staples hold as well or better than tacks. (A friend of mine told me about seeing an upholsterer who still used tacks---he would put a bunch of them in his mouth and had learned to quickly maneuver one at a time to between his teeth, I guess, head end out which he'd then pick up with the magnetic end of the tack hammer. Then he'd give it one whack with that end to set it in place, then flip the hammer and drive it in with a couple of whacks. Seems like a pretty quick method but not as fast as a stapler and accuracy would take a lot of practice. A lot. Also, I would probably find a way to choke on a mouthful of staples, because I'm like that.)
I learned upholstery with tacks (not because I'm ancient but because I was cheap). I now worship the ground my compressor sits on. Best investment I ever made!
Leif
I love the "forensics" you are doing on this chair. There is always so much to be learned.
Especially in situations where there seems to be little or no clear information out there, I have found that noting and cross-referencing info from my own observations of my own pieces has helped to hone in on specific date ranges, developmental changes, processes, etc.
The lack of historical knowledge surrounding some pieces is half the fun of it, of course, but at some point many of these so called "mysteries" can be largely answered.
Thanks for posting your observations.
*Spanky*
Thanks so much - can I impose on you with another question? I'm imagining a smallish shop that does high-end custom furniture in various non MCM styles - something a decorator might want for an elaborate house - in the shop, there'd be the smell of sawdust? glue? which would be .. acrid? In fiction (in life) everything's better if the details are correct.
leif
As you noted, there are several details that less skilled upholsterers get wrong on the papa bear. One I've noticed is the more pronounced headrest that is original to the design. Another is the horsehair and cotton batting fill that is too often replaced with foam.
I think the use of natural materials is one of the reasons we still see papa bear chairs with original upholstery in decent condition.
The coil-spring
back is unusual in upholstered seating, isn't it ? That has to be one comfy chair. I've not had the pleasure . . .
Kate, a small furniture shop might smell, first, of the most aromatic of the woods, namely conifers: Pine has a distinctive aroma, as does cedar, of course. So, a sweetish smell with some acid overtones ? Perhaps others will say something about fabrics. Also, finish materials, periodically, like lacquer or varnish. Shellac's alcohol has its own sweet odor. I'm not sure what single word might serve for these aromatic liquids . . .
Kate,
I don't think there's any one smell that predominates, it just depends on what's going on that day. I use a lot of spray adhesive, which smells like rubber cement (yech). Wood glue doesn't smell much. Teak oil is probably the most lingering smell. SDR has good suggestions.
On the padding: I've seen cotton batting that was 60+ years old that looked essentially like new except for being more compressed. But it doesn't lose material or dry out. It DOES absorb odors in a way that foam doesn't, but if you keep your humidity under control and don't smoke in the house or do a lot of unvented cooking near it, and you bathe regularly, then that's probably not going to be an issue. It's messier to use and can be tricky to get smooth around the edges, which is probably why foam is more popular.
(I reupholstered a 50s sofa for myself, years ago, that had a lot of cotton batting that looked fine, so I left it. I did not notice any odor until summer humidity in my house with no central A/C reached a certain point, then...oh my. Big mistake.)
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