The Reveal-The Elegant Seat

Oh dear, next time I decide to refurbish anything, please stop me! You may remember on our joint blog, Gals About Town, I spent the day in Peddler's Village and found what may have been a Sheraton chair for a whopping $75! Well I decided for the upholstery it called for a trip in town, so yesterday I went exploring on Fabric Row in the Queen Village, shocking, neighborhood in southeast Philadelphia's Fabric Row, which is like a mini version of the NYC garment district. There are 25 or so shops all concentrated on a few blocks of South 4th Street from South Street to Catharine Street. I pretty much knew I'd end up at Kincus Fabrics.

It is probably the Mood of Philadelphia. A local tidbit is it's where most of the Mummers get their provisions for their stunning outfits for the parade. And they even had some sale barrels outside.



Once inside it was overwhelming where to start. But the lady said it was 50% off all fabric considered upholstery. Magic words.




I found a beautiful fabric and it almost matched my bedding. In the meantime, I really set out to see if the chair is a Sheraton piece. Since I have a degree in interior design and had many courses of furniture history ,and knew what to look for, I still wasn't sure since few pieces actually built by Sheraton survive today. But his designs and ideas influenced entire generations of furniture-makers, especially in the young U.S. Thomas Sheraton is known for its light, elegant appearance, especially delicate, compared to earlier Queen Anne and Chippendale styles. Pieces are embellished with small, low-relief carvings or painted designs, along with intricately patterned and detailed marquetry and veneers, often in dramatically contrasting woods, which this chair has. Common motifs include drapery swags, lyres, ribbons, fans, feathers, urns and flowers, which their is a lyre of sorts of the back. Still confused, a friend who knows antiques looked at it, and said it is not a Sheraton as old as it is, but it is a damn fine reproduction and probably worth alot more then the lady sold it for. He guessed a ball park figrue of $500-$600! I really did get a steal!!!! I felt like I was on Antiques Roadshow y'all! I showed him a picture of a desk of my mother's I also thought was Sheraton. Sheraton is credited with popularizing the placement of gathered silk behind the glass doors of desk, cabinets and sideboards. He also had a penchant for including secret drawers and mechanisms for sliding sections on secretaries, tables and desks which her's does. She hates the thing. It was my father's great grandfathers. My friend thinks by the pictures, she may well have a fortune sitting in her living room! He wants to see it sometime in person. But annnnnywho the chair meanwhile turned out beautiful. Not a professional job, but it looks perfect for me.

The before-

And now the after-





Now I don't know about you, but I sure could use a cock-a-tail! After all, there is always time for a cock-a-tail! Tootles!