Chippendale Chair in Mahogany

[Mark Maleski]

I didn't intend to take on such an advanced project just yet, but when one of the more experienced members of my local SAPFM chapter offered to lead a monthly chair-building group in his workshop, I couldn't resist the opportunity. Fred Walker provided the plans and photographs from an original Benjamin Randolph chair (circa 1760) that he had measured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art under Gene Langdon's guidance, and gave tutorials on its construction during our monthly meetings. This has been a great project for me, because I'm made significant leaps forward in just about all of the skill areas (joinery, shaping, carving, etc.). I do need to work more on my finishing skills...specifically on color matching (the mahogany I used was not all from the same tree, and I'm not satisfied with the color matching I achieved). But I suspect it won't be the last chair I do...when I bought the fabric I bought enough to cover a future matching chair. Below is a photo of the completed (first) chair, in place in our new home.

10. Finished and in Situ.jpg

[Mark Maleski]

Here's my earliest photo of the chair in-progress. At this point the front legs were shaped and the feet carved, but I hadn't shaped or carved the knees yet. The original chair has beautiful carving on the knees, but very intimidating (to me, at least). The rails are through-mortised into the rear posts, with a 7 degree angle (and the posts are angled inward slightly as well). I used a pig-sticker chisel and a couple of bevel gauges, working inward from both the front and back of the post, and it wasn't that hard to get the mortises to (mostly) meet in the middle.

1. PMA Chair at SAPFM.jpg

Here's a close-up of the ball and claw. I futzed with it quite a bit to get the ball to be a nice sphere.

1.1 Ball and Claw.jpg

[Howard Pollack]

Very nice! I imagine that that ball was not at all easy to do. Congratulations. -Howard

[Yonak Hawkins]

Beautiful ! I love the shoulders, the knees and the large feet. This is a proud chair.

[glenn bradley]

She looks great Mark. As Yonak said, the proportions on the front legs area just right.

[Mel Fulks]

Fine work and ambitious for a first chair. That is a lot like the chair Washington used at Independance Hall. I see one thing that could use an easy improvement ....seat looks just a little too modernly puffy.

[Mark Maleski]

Fine work and ambitious for a first chair. That is a lot like the chair Washington used at Independance Hall. I see one thing that could use an easy improvement ....seat looks just a little too modernly puffy.

Mel, the seat is done with traditional methods and materials. I used jute webbing, burlap, and horsehair stuffing under a wool show cloth. If you look closely you can see it's a little lumpy, just as it should be. It feels great to sit on...meaning it's obviously not foam but has a slight "crunch" that you'd associate with traditional filling.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Stunning work Mark! Thanks for sharing.

[Mel Fulks]

The covering is a good fabric and its a nice job with good materials. And it is the way we are used to seeing them done.But the period antiques tend to be a little flatter. Just a little leaner is ,I think, a more formal look and shows off the saddle better.

[Mike Henderson]

Looks great! There's a lot of skills in that chair and you should be proud of your mastery of them. Just the carving is an achievement in itself - and that's only part of the total project. Congratulations.

Mike

[Patrick McCarthy]

Mark, very impressive . Got to love the SAPFM guys!
Especially nice to get a mentor for a project like this.
Best regards, Patrick

[Brett Robson]

Wow! That's an amazing piece! Someday I hope to have the skills necessary to attempt such a piece!

[Dale Barger]

That is simply outstanding! Great job it the carving. I really like that!

[Prashun Patel]

Wow. Some day... Some day...

What is your tool arsenal for carving the B&C, Mark?

Also, do you have any pics of the upholstering process?

[Brian Holcombe]

Stunning work!