New York Corner Chair

Design based on a corner chair made in New York around 1765. Wood is mahogany. No one can say exactly why this chair was designed. Some say it was to allow a man to sit while wearing a sword, others say it's so women could sit in those big flowing dresses. But no one's sure. 

I took a course on building this chair at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Here's a look at the chair in its early stages. All the final work was done in my shop.

The leg corner posts are glued up oversize, then planed flush with the rails. You can see how most of the legs are one piece of wood from floor to top rail.

This is one way of mounting the leg for carving the ball-and-claw feet and shell. I prefer to mount the leg lengthwise in a clamp. Some people build a designated carving jig which works the same way.

A closeup of the front leg, showing the ball-and-claw and shell carving. The round dots are dowels, acting as pegs to reinforce the tenons that join the two side rails. With modern glue and good joinery, this isn't really essential, but it's part of the look. Square pegs were often used, but in the case, the original maker used round.  

All told, a challenging project, with lots of hand-tool work. Finish was a washcoat of shellac, then several coats of boiled linseed oil, tinted with mahogany stain. I had the upholstery done professionally.