I live in America and found this chair on the side of the road and thought that it needed some TLC so my fiancee has been working on reupholstering while I've been doing some woodworking. We know this is a Conant Ball platform chair, but have no idea the production years of this chair or what the model of this chair is. Any advice would be much appreciated!
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This chair looks like it was manufacture in the 50's. Whatever value it had might be reduced by the rough condition, though a reupholstering might be good.
The company was founded in the late 1800s and closed their doors in 1980. What I do know about this company is the vendor number is the site where the item was made and what factory it was made in. This is a hard company to find where it was made and what factory it was made in. Most of the searches online will only tell you about the company, when it opened, when it closed, and where it was located.
Conant Ball is a good brand name but the main reason was due to the designs made by Russell Wright and this chair is not one of his.
Platform rockers are popular but the mid century through present time look so much alike that it's difficult to place a date on most of them
Looks like it is a 'love' project as it has certainly seen a lot of wear and tear over the years. As a general rule, most of the platform rockers in this style had a matching platform footstool.
I do not believe your rocker will ever be very valuable but could certainly be a piece to sit back and enjoy.
Company history:
www.justcollecting.com/
Maybe another member - Pghgirl - will come along and give more insight to the information you're looking for.
Neat piece! Great thing to find by the side of the road!
My best guess is it was originally a fully skirted piece and that you would not see the legs.
That it has the abbreviation Mass vs. MA means it most likely is before 1963 when the Post Office went to the 2 digit state abbreviations.
Hog and horse hair were used well into the 20th century so that doesn't help much. Conant numbering is one of the most secretive and I have never been able to "crack the code".
Just from the overall style of the piece, I would peg it as a mid 1950s piece, maybe very early 1960s.
A lot of people think the 1852 is the year the chair was made, but that is not the case.
The logo is one of the "newer versions" although it is not clear in all of the research I have done, when they moved to the circle version that you show that says "Conant Ball furniture makers 1852". The company originated in 1852 under a different name and was not changed to have the Conant name in it until 1875-then it was called Conant, Ball & Company.
Also, most likely NOT by their famous designer Russel Wright as the bulk of his pieces were marked and were known for much more streamlined (think pre-Ikea) look. This is (at least to me) too bulky to have been a Wright design.
Perhaps this museum can help you date the piece:
www.gardnermuseuminc.com/
If you are asking for value--that is going to be very subjective and depend on many many factors. It is best to talk to a furniture reseller in your town BEFORE you refinish to determine if it will increase or decrease value where you are. My guess is since it is worth almost nothing in the condition it is in, so a good restoration may fetch you something--but be sure it is enough to cover time and materials.
Thanks for sharing!! Neat piece!
I have the same chair! I live in westminster next to gardner and it was on the side of the road. mines teal and in mint condition. I have an email Airfloww@yahoo.com if you want a picture!
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