Staked Stool Project: Difference between revisions

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I assume you are here because you're interested in the staked furniture I'm exploring or maybe just to see whatever it is I made. In any case, enjoy.
I assume you are here because you're interested in the staked furniture I'm exploring or maybe just to see whatever it is I made. In any case, enjoy.
[[File:Boston High Boy.png|alt=High Chest of Drawers|thumb|351x351px|Boston High Chest of Drawers]]
 
While I got my start producing furniture by making stuff to use at SCA events, I've grown interested in historical furniture in general. Turns out there were lots of interesting things made between the Renaissance and the advent of industrial furniture making (about 1850 in England and America).
While I got my start producing furniture by making stuff to use at SCA events, I've grown interested in historical furniture in general. Turns out there were lots of interesting things made between the Renaissance and the advent of industrial furniture making (about 1850 in England and America).
[[File:Philadelphia Chippendale Side Chair.png|left|thumb|277x277px]]
 
Lately, I've read a lot about late 17<sup>th</sup>, 18<sup>th</sup>, and 19<sup>th</sup> Century vernacular furniture. This is the stuff the common people made and used. Because of the preservation bias of high style items and what you see in museums and historic house, many folks think the 18th Century is all mahogany high boys and cabriole feet. Sure, it was...for the well to do, that early 1%. For the rest of the folks, it was a little more mundane.  
Lately, I've read a lot about late 17<sup>th</sup>, 18<sup>th</sup>, and 19<sup>th</sup> Century vernacular furniture. This is the stuff the common people made and used. Because of the preservation bias of high-style items and what you see in museums and historic houses, many folks think the 18th Century is all mahogany high boys and cabriole feet. Sure, it was...for the well to do, that early 1%. For the rest of the folks, it was a little more mundane.  
"Nice" chairs (like the Philadelphia side chair to the left) are built off the rear legs and most chairs are still made this way today. If the rear of the chair extends from the floor all the way to the crest rail (top), this is what I am talking about. That rear frame is the structural heart of the chair. You hang a seat frame off that and connect a couple of legs to that and you have a chair.
 
Staked furniture is different. Instead of building around the rear frame, the chair (or table or whatever) is built around a think plank. This is the seat in a chair or reinforced sections of the top on a table. Legs are mortised into the plank and the back/arms (if any) are also mortised into it, but separately from the legs. Examples of this style are Windsor chairs and their tough country cousins, the Welsh stick chair.
[[File:Modern Windsor Chair.png|alt=Modern Windsor Chair|thumb|301x301px|Modern Windsor Chair]]
{|
{|
![[File:Modern Stick Chair.png|alt=Modern Stick Chair|left|thumb|300x300px|Modern Stick Chair]]
|+ Eighteenth-Century High Style Furniture and Back Chair Examples
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| [[File:Philadelphia Chippendale Side Chair.png|alt=Philadelphia Chippendale Side Chair|thumb|277x277px|Philadelphia Chippendale Side Chair]]
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|| [[File:Boston High Boy.png|alt=High Chest of Drawers|thumb|301x301px|Boston High Chest of Drawers]]
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|| [[File:Modern Dining Chair.png|alt=Modern Dining Chair|thumb|300x300px|Modern Dining Chair]]
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|| [[File:Late 19th Cen Viking High Chair.png|alt=Late 19th Cen Viking High Chair|thumb|300x300px|Late 19th Cen Viking High Chair]]
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"Nice" chairs (like the Philadelphia side chair above) are built off the rear legs and most chairs are still made this way today. If the rear of the chair extends from the floor all the way to the crest rail (top), this is what I am talking about. That rear frame is the structural heart of the chair. You hang a seat frame off that and connect a couple of legs to that and you have a chair.


Staked furniture is different. Instead of building around the rear frame, the chair (or table or whatever) is built around a think plank. This is the seat in a chair or reinforced sections of the top on a table. Legs are mortised into the plank and the back/arms (if any) are also mortised into it, but separately from the legs. Examples of this style are Windsor chairs and their tough country cousins, the Welsh stick chair.
{|
|+ Staked Chairs both Modern and Pre-Industrial
| [[File:Modern Windsor Chair.png|alt=Modern Windsor Chair|thumb|301x301px|Modern Windsor Chair]]
|| [[File:Modern Stick Chair.png|alt=Modern Stick Chair|thumb|300x300px|Modern Stick Chair]]
|| [[File:Welsh Stick Chair ca 1790.png|alt=Welsh Stick Chair ca 1790|thumb|300x300px|Welsh Stick Chair ca 1790]]
|| [[File:Welsh Stick Chair ca 1800.png|alt=Welsh Stick Chair ca 1800|thumb|300x300px|Welsh Stick Chair ca 1800]]
|}


Staked furniture isn't limited to seating and it wasn't a "new" invention. A lot of medieval furniture is staked. Basically, all stools that depend on the seat for structure, many of the tables, including trestle tables are staked as well.
Staked furniture isn't limited to seating and it wasn't a "new" invention. A lot of medieval furniture is staked. Basically, all stools that depend on the seat for structure, many of the tables, including trestle tables are staked as well.
{|
|+ Medieval Examples of Staked Furniture
| [[File:German Filemaker on Staked Stool and Workbench.png|alt=German Filemaker on Staked Stool and Workbench|thumb|190px|German Filemaker on Staked Stool and Workbench]]
|| [[File:Irish Cooper on Staked Workbench.png|alt=Irish Cooper on Staked Workbench|thumb|190px|Irish Cooper on Staked Workbench]]
|| [[File:Baker on Staked Table.png|alt=Baker on Staked Table|thumb|190px|Baker on Staked Table]]
|| [[File:German Carpenter on Staked Horses.png|alt=German Carpenter on Staked Horses|thumb|190px|German Carpenter on Staked Horses]]
|}


[[Category:Woodworking]]
[[Category:Woodworking]]

Revision as of 18:24, 17 March 2021

Staked Furniture

I assume you are here because you're interested in the staked furniture I'm exploring or maybe just to see whatever it is I made. In any case, enjoy.

While I got my start producing furniture by making stuff to use at SCA events, I've grown interested in historical furniture in general. Turns out there were lots of interesting things made between the Renaissance and the advent of industrial furniture making (about 1850 in England and America).

Lately, I've read a lot about late 17th, 18th, and 19th Century vernacular furniture. This is the stuff the common people made and used. Because of the preservation bias of high-style items and what you see in museums and historic houses, many folks think the 18th Century is all mahogany high boys and cabriole feet. Sure, it was...for the well to do, that early 1%. For the rest of the folks, it was a little more mundane.

Eighteenth-Century High Style Furniture and Back Chair Examples
Philadelphia Chippendale Side Chair
Philadelphia Chippendale Side Chair
High Chest of Drawers
Boston High Chest of Drawers
Modern Dining Chair
Modern Dining Chair
Late 19th Cen Viking High Chair
Late 19th Cen Viking High Chair

"Nice" chairs (like the Philadelphia side chair above) are built off the rear legs and most chairs are still made this way today. If the rear of the chair extends from the floor all the way to the crest rail (top), this is what I am talking about. That rear frame is the structural heart of the chair. You hang a seat frame off that and connect a couple of legs to that and you have a chair.

Staked furniture is different. Instead of building around the rear frame, the chair (or table or whatever) is built around a think plank. This is the seat in a chair or reinforced sections of the top on a table. Legs are mortised into the plank and the back/arms (if any) are also mortised into it, but separately from the legs. Examples of this style are Windsor chairs and their tough country cousins, the Welsh stick chair.

Staked Chairs both Modern and Pre-Industrial
Modern Windsor Chair
Modern Windsor Chair
Modern Stick Chair
Modern Stick Chair
Welsh Stick Chair ca 1790
Welsh Stick Chair ca 1790
Welsh Stick Chair ca 1800
Welsh Stick Chair ca 1800

Staked furniture isn't limited to seating and it wasn't a "new" invention. A lot of medieval furniture is staked. Basically, all stools that depend on the seat for structure, many of the tables, including trestle tables are staked as well.

Medieval Examples of Staked Furniture
German Filemaker on Staked Stool and Workbench
German Filemaker on Staked Stool and Workbench
Irish Cooper on Staked Workbench
Irish Cooper on Staked Workbench
Baker on Staked Table
Baker on Staked Table
German Carpenter on Staked Horses
German Carpenter on Staked Horses