Old Hickory Rattan Adirondack Rocking Arm Chair Rustic Farmhouse Lodge #25

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Old Hickory Rattan Adirondack Rocking Arm Chair Rustic Farmhouse Lodge #25

About the Item

Antique circa 1930s #25 rocking chair by Old Hickory Furniture Company of Martinsville, Indiana. Features a primitive Adirondack style with flared arms and rattan seat. History In the 1800's as pioneers traveled West across America, they discovered the useful and remarkable hickory tree. This small diameter tree grew throughout the Midwest in groups of twenty to thirty, surrounded by much larger trees. As the saplings struggled towards the sunlight above, they grew straight and tall - yet the diameter did not exceed two to three inches - even after twenty to thirty years of growth. The hardwood saplings were used for many different things (e.g. wagon wheel spokes, tool handles and furniture). The hickory saplings could be bent to fit the contours of the body, so the furniture was incredibly comfortable and strong. The inner bark strips could be woven together in a herringbone pattern to make soft yet durable chair seats and backs. In the 1890s Billy Richardson started selling hickory chairs and rockers on Saturdays on the town square in Martinsville, Indiana. Legend has it that Richardson and his father had made hickory chairs and rockers for the President Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage many years earlier. Others in the Martinsville area studied Richardson's products and banded together in 1892 in an abandoned church, producing hickory sapling furniture as a full-time business. They chose the name "Old Hickory" for the new company, the same nickname as the late President Jackson. When the company incorporated in 1899, a full line of products were available for shipping across the country to homes and resorts. Old Hickory furniture became so poplar that it was going to the new National Park Lodges in the West as well as Great Camps and resorts in the Adirondack Park. The most famous installation was the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. The original dining chairs that were shipped in 1904 are still in use today over 110 years later. Today Old Hickory combines designs from the company's history along with more contemporary applications for home. Yet the process of handcrafting each piece remains very much the same. Attention to detail, the careful matching of parts, the assembly with mortise and Tenon, and the meticulous hand weaving process, make Old Hickory Furniture's products unique, stylish, comfortable, and extremely durable. After one hundred years, old-fashioned care continues at Old Hickory Furniture Company, the home of America's genuine, original furniture.

Creator:
Old Hickory Furniture Company (Manufacturer)
Dimensions:
Height: 33.5 in (85.09 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)Depth: 26 in (66.04 cm)
Style:
Adirondack (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Hickory,Rattan
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1930-1939
Date of Manufacture:
1930s
Condition:
Good antique condition, gently used.
Seller Location:
Dayton, OH
Reference Number:
Seller: 302461stDibs: LU5343223967212

Shop All Old Hickory Furniture Company

Old Hickory Furniture Company

In the early 1890s, before his Old Hickory Furniture Company was formally incorporated, Billy Richardson was selling handmade rocking chairs in the town square of Martinsville, Indiana. His designs used hickory saplings that were the perfect combination of pliable and durable, making them ideal for creating graceful, comfortable and long-lasting furniture. This style of “twig furniture” or “rustic furniture” had become popular with the romanticization of escaping to nature in the 19th century, particularly in the Appalachian Mountains.

Reportedly, a young Richardson and his father crafted seating for president Andrew Jackson, nicknamed “Old Hickory,” for use at his Tennessee home, the Hermitage. By the end of the 19th century, Billy Richardson’s furniture had attracted such a fan base that he joined forces with other craftspeople in the area and they convened to work in an empty church, producing hickory sapling furniture full-time. Old Hickory was officially founded in 1899 and began shipping its signature hickory sapling seating and tables across the country.

Some of the company’s earliest customers were America’s National Parks, where Old Hickory’s homespun style of wooden furniture fit right in and turned out to be a sound investment. At Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful Inn and Glacier National Park’s Lake McDonald Lodge, the Old Hickory seating purchased in the early 1900s remains in use to this day.

That’s not to say the company hasn’t adapted over its century-plus lifetime. A look at Old Hickory’s archive is something of a trip through American furniture styles of the past century. There are knotted designs from the 1930s, chaises made of wicker (a versatile and long-lasting natural material) that recall early-20th-century resort style and Mission-style sets reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement.

In the 1940s, Old Hickory tapped designer Russel Wright to lend his eye to the brand. Wright’s streamlined designs married Old Hickory’s rustic sensibility with a modern aesthetic. After closing in 1978, the company underwent two acquisitions and was moved from Martinsville to Shelbyville, Indiana, where it now operates. Today, Old Hickory continues to offer an array of furniture and home accessories, primarily in the widely loved style with which it began.

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