I recently picked up a set of four bent plywood chairs manufactured by the Carolina Seating Company. They feature some nicely figured Walnut and an interesting modular design that allows them to be assembled in tandem or as a bench. There is also a small table that is curiously done in cheap laminate and vinyl. The seats simply float in the frame, fixed by dowels in the side stretchers. Two of them are nicely covered in what looks and feels like Hallingdal, or something similar. The other two need recovered. They are pretty unique and I haven't seen or found any other examples.
This is the second set of chairs by the Carolina Seating Company that I've had... the first was a nice pair of Risom-esque lounges a couple of years ago. Walnut frames and an attractive green/orange tweed. They were really sharp, but I couldn't find any info about the company at the time and now I'm again trying to do some research but coming up mostly empty-handed... most search hits result in obituaries of former employees.
I've found registration dates of 1967, but I've also found an ad for a "new, permanent showroom" in Florida that dates 1966, so I'm not really sure when they got started. The only promising leads are some materials listed in the American Furniture Industries Survey Collection at The Smithsonian, as well as a place called The Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. The description of the contents at the Hagley Museum:
'Carolina Seating Company, undated [Contains a furniture catalog with vinyl upholstery swatches from Carolina Seating Company of Thomasville, North Carolina. The catalog and furniture were distributed by The Pace Collection, Incorporated of New York City.]'
I reached out to both of these institutions but haven't heard back yet. I will probably ring up the museum in High Point, as they probably have some information there... but has anybody else here ever encountered any Carolina Seating Company pieces? The designs I have seen (excluding some that appear to be more contract furniture from the 70s-80s) are interesting and well-made. There is a three-legged chair on 1stDibs that is attributed to them, too.
Thanks for any interest or help.
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I managed to get a copy of the listed catalog from the Hagley Museum in Deleware. I figured that it would be contract furniture, as that seems to be the focus of most of what they have in that collection, but these chairs probably fall under that category. This catalog is only 12 pages and doesn't really help a ton, but I thought I'd share it here anyway if anybody cares. It would seem that my seating set is some variation of the 'Dana' group. Anyway, here's what I've got.
There is good evidence it is from around 1963:
There is a mention of the use of Richlux(R) foam. The trademark was filed in 1963.
The zip code system came into use in 1963. There are no zip codes anywhere.
Also the use of two letter state abbreviation came into use then.
It isn't perfectly nailed down, but the various addresses here and there on the labels and oriented materials suggest dates relative to those facts. For instance the label with N.C. suggest manufacture post 63.
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