1890's chair? Value?

[Jlsherf]

I have a new one for you!  My son made this purchase at a yard sale.  It fascinated him so he bought it.  What he will do with it.....  Lol!  It has a tag on it that says 1890's.  I have never seen one like this though I have read about making chair seats out of buck skin.  The seat is extremely hard!  I have taken a few pics.  One is of the many layers of paint and one is of the only piece of wood with paint all gone.  Any suggestions of value?  Is there any?  It is missing a piece on the top of the back of chair.  Also, do you think its 1890's?

[Jlsherf]

Underside of seat and layers of paint also wood grain showing.

[Jlsherf]

Sorry it wouldn't let me lost but 2 pics at a time.  Here is 1 more.

[ghopper1924]

It could be 1890s because the chair had a very popular and long-lived form; you could have said 1840s  and I wouldn't have batted an eye.

Chairs tend to not be valued nearly as much as you might think. Since this is missing a finial and is in rather rough shape, I'd say its value is around the $20.00 mark at best. At a yard sale....maybe $5-10.

[mart]

Like Ghopper said these chairs have been around a while !! They are not rare or hard to find !!  But the seat does make it unusual !! This was done out of necessity !! Most likely started out as a rush or rope seat that wore out !! I am guessing its probably deer hide !! The hide would be soaked in water then attached to the seat !! As it dried it would tighten up and harden !! As you can see they last a long time,,longer than the chair they are attached to !! The chair is oak !! If it were me I would strip the paint but leave the chair as-is !! The leather seat is a conversation piece !! Quite a unique application of a deer hide !!

[Jlsherf]

Thanks y'all!  I had done some searches on chairs.  Never had I even heard of a buck skin seat until I did some research.  Stupid me, I had not even seen the underside of the chair until I read about it.  Lol!  I couldn't figure out what made it hard like that.  It looks to have been there a very long time that's for sure!.  What would you use to take the paint off with?  I told my son he should hang it on a wall like a shelf so that you could see the under side of it.  That is the conversation starter anyway.  Thanks again and I will pass on the info.  I will tell him about removing the paint.  He's a paint contractor by trade.  He does houses though so not sure he would know the best way to remove all these decades of paint and still preserve the old wood.  But what do I know!  Lol!

[mart]

Can leave it as-is !!b  Just depends on what you like !!You may never see a hide seat attached that way again !!  True pioneer method !!

[Jlsherf]

Its when I see items like this that I would love it if they could talk.  The history could be very mundane and yet thrilling to hear!  Thanks!

[mart]

Also shows how inventive the pioneers were  !! I can imagine a sod or log house as was common in many areas and a worn out chair !! Furniture was not simply discarded back then,, it was repaired with the materials that were available at that time !!  This method (the underside) was used by Native Americans !!

[Jlsherf]

My imagination is working!  The Native American info makes sense,

[antiques123]

Antiques values you can find www.antiqpedia.com