I was lucky enough to be asked to recreate the tooled back on this very special Rose Valley Arm Chair.
We started by going through the original images and records at the Antheneum of Philadelphia. The Antheneum is one of the great institutions in Philadelphia and America for history and antiquities. Based on matching the grain patterns on the chair with the chairs in the original photographs, we were able to find images of the exact chair, from the Main Hall of the John O. Gilmore House, 1901. The tooled panel was visible, but only faintly.
We also found images of what looks like the same acanthus pattern on another chair that had much greater detail.
Using these two sources, I drew the basic pattern full scale on graph paper.
I transfered the pattern to a thick natural leather and carved the basic outlines
I then started working the edges and creating the background pattern.
After completing the background, I started on the detail work.
After many layers of color, I get close to the color I want to use.
The next part is the MOST important. Cutting the back pattern to fit the chair. If you miscalculate the cutting, there is no way to fix it --you would have to start over. Measure 3 or 4 times, and cut once.
Because we had period images of the chair, we were able to locate the original holes for the nailheads. Using templates, we aligned the nailheads back into their original configuration.
