While the craftsmanship of these two chairs is of high quality, the small size of the chairs and the thin caning indicates that they were not meant to serve as actual chairs for children; instead, these were meant to be toy chairs for use as accessories for dolls.

Each chair has a wooden frame that consists of machine-turned, solid wooden pieces that form the legs, back, arms, and stretcher bars, along with two decorative splats filling out the back of the chair.  The strong craftmanship is particularly well-illustrated in the hand-woven cane seats, which feature the well-known decorative “six-way” pattern, with rows of octagonal holes and a double border of cane strips.

Although these chairs are toys, their style accurately reflects the Arts and Crafts Movement, which favored a return to functional furniture that was (or appeared to be) handcrafted; this style was popular in the United States from about 1876 through 1916. Researched and conserved by Malena Hemenway 

 

For more information, you may contact the researcher(s) noted in the title of this exhibit entry, or Dr. Billie Follensbee, the professor of the course, at BillieFollensbee@MissouriState.edu