Historical Chair Construction

Experience

Rural Studio - Fall 2013

In collaboration with Henry Boyle

During the semester at the Rural Studio, we had the opportunity to build one of four historical chairs. Since the objective of the project was to learn how to properly use the tools of the workshop, my partner and I decided to build the Mackintosh chair, which required the most tools and elaborate building techniques.

History

The Ingram Street Tea Room Chair

The Mackintosh chair is one of two chair models designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1901 for the Ingram Street Tea Room of Catherine Cranston. Although it was at one point designed to be painted green, the final chair design was made of dark-stained ash wood to contrast the white motif of the tea room.

Construction

Tools and Details

The construction of the Mackintosh chair required similar tools and building techniques as the other three historical chairs; however, it also involved building procedures specific to the chair itself. As a result, it allowed us to maximize our knowledge of the workshop tools and building tactics. The overall construction consisted on building the front and back of the chair as individual pieces that would then be glued together to form the final chair. Since the design contained various curved details, many of the cuts had to be free-handed. During the construction, some of my tasks included making those difficult cuts as well as other significant details like the square holes on the back slats and the tenon joints.

Although we remained truthful to the historically accurate form of the chair, some of the artistic liberties we employed included selecting oak wood instead of ash wood and using a lighter stain that would highlight the texture of the oak.