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Author Topic: Savonorola chairs Ulfgar Member Member # 225 posted 10-07-2001 10:12 PM                Requesting information on "savonorola" chairs. For those who may be uncertain as to just what a Savonorola chair is, I am referring to the multiple slatted (usually 14-18 slats) folding X-chair common to the fifteenth century, usually with a back. Could anyone who has had acess to an ORIGINAL give me some details? I need to know if the slats were steam bent and whether the axles were wood or iron rods, and how they were fixed in place at the rear? To tell if the slats have been steam bent, just look to see if the wood grain follows the curve of the slat all the way along from end to end, without dissapearing off the edge at the curves. These chairs are a devil to make and I cant but help but think our ancestors did it some easier way- such as steam bending. cheers all Ulfgar -------------------- Yes, these are bruises from fighting.That's right, I'm enlightened! Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged chef de chambre Admin & Advocatus Diaboli Member # 4 posted 10-07-2001 10:34 PM                   Hi Ulfgar, I have 'access' to one on display in the Higgins. If you can wait a couple of weeks till my next visit, I will be glad to look into that example for you rather than working off memory. I will also look in the Eams book. -------------------- Bob R. Registered: May 2000  |  IP: Logged Ulfgar Member Member # 225 posted 10-08-2001 04:52 AM                Excellent, If it gets me what I want, I can indeed wait. Would you also be able to get the usual details- when, from where, what timber etc... cheers Ulfgar -------------------- Yes, these are bruises from fighting.That's right, I'm enlightened! Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged Fire Stryker Admin & Advocatus Diaboli Member # 2 posted 10-08-2001 09:15 AM                   If memory serves me correctly, the chair at the Higgins museum is an 'X' chair, but the slats are straight. I think we have a photograph of the chair but can still probably get the material information and dimensions. Registered: May 2000  |  IP: Logged Ulfgar Member Member # 225 posted 10-09-2001 07:18 PM                The straight slatted version is sometimes referred to as the german or alpine style, but with the continual shifting of styles between riegons I would be reluctant to label it so quickly. This style ,as far as I am aware, appears fairly late in the scene -sixteenth century. I suspect it evolved as a simplification of a popular chair for ease of mass production. This does in no way lessen my interest in the current available example however- very interested. cheers Ulfgar -------------------- Yes, these are bruises from fighting.That's right, I'm enlightened! Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged J.K. Vernier Member Member # 123 posted 10-17-2001 02:44 AM                   Howdy. I've looked at several originals of this type, in Italy as well as in American museums (Cleveland, Detroit). The curved members are not steam-bent, they are very clearly cut and the marks of the chisels used to clean up the curves are generally quite apparent, no effort having been made to smooth them away with a spokeshave or compass plane. Decent copises of this type of chair are provided for visitor seating at some Italian museums, and the finish on the copies tends to be better than on the originals. The axles on the originals are wood as far as I can determine. I have copies of the simpler northern x-frame stools in which the axles are oak dowels 1/4 inch diameter, and they seem plenty strong (I stand on them all the time). I don't know how the axles were secured. In my copies they are pinned through the end members (These were made for me by Gary Link in Chicago). Registered: Feb 2001  |  IP: Logged Jno New Member Member # 228 posted 10-18-2001 10:47 AM                If I recall correctly, the one at the Higgins Armory has straight, not curved slats. It also seems to me that it's a mid-19th century reproduction. If I get a chance, I'll pop in this weekend & check. I'm about 15 minutes away & used to volunteer there all the time (I would have PAID to do it!)-- 8-) -------------------- Jno Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged Ulfgar Member Member # 225 posted 10-19-2001 11:14 PM                Cut slats- well it is good to know I have been doing them correctly all these years. However cutting across the grain in the "S" shape has always bothered me as it is a very weak method. That is why I had suspicions that there may have been a stronger method used such as steam bending. Does anyone have any idea when the tines of hay rakes were first steam bent? cheers Ulfgarnull -------------------- Yes, these are bruises from fighting.That's right, I'm enlightened! Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged

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