Refurbishing an antique Turkish chaise
A veteran antique upholsterer uses original materials and new methods to restore an 1867 Turkish chaise.
Upholstery Journal | August 2009
By Ron Farris
I specialize in antique restoration.
I was taught by two European craftsmen: Louis Louizou from Holland and Howard Gebline from Germany. Both ran upholstery shops in Annapolis, Md.
I received this chaise lounge from a customer in Naples, Fla. She bought it at a yard sale from a 92-year-old woman who said it had belonged to her grandmother.
My customer was having a very hard time finding someone to do the restoration and upholstery. Five different shops looked at it and all gave estimates between $3,000 and $4,000. They all told her that they were not going to use the original hair because it was too old and too dirty to work with, and not worth keeping. To remove all the original hair would devalue the piece.
An inscription on the wooden frame of the Turkish chaise lounge reads: “This is a rehabbed gift for Colonel R.S. Thompson 1867.” I had an antique appraiser look at it, and he was certain it would have been manufactured between 1840 and 1870, which would corroborate the upholstery date of 1867.
I had very few obstacles on this piece. The biggest challenge was the all-metal Turkish back frame. Everything from the seat up is hand stitched to the metal frame.
I sandwiched the metal frame between two pieces of 1/4-inch plywood, cut to the curvature of the old frame. Then I stapled the wood to jute webbing and then loaded that down with carpenter’s glue. Once the glue hardened it was as hard as a rock, like plaster of Paris. Now I had something on which to adhere the staples. This did not devalue the antique, as I took nothing from the piece. I simply added something to staple the fabric to, rather than hand stitch.
Photos 1 and 2 show how the piece looked when I first brought it to my shop. It’s a tight seat with a French pleated front band. This band is stitched on, and I hand stitched it back onto the piece.
Everything is stitched to the metal frame on the backside of the chaise, including the springs, burlap and hair. All the hair was hand stitched back. The edge roll was hand stitched back, as well.
Picture 3 shows the piece completely stripped, all but the springs. Notice the all-metal Turkish back frame.
I took this piece down to its smallest dowel. The frame was completely broken apart and reglued. The legs were stripped and refinished in dark walnut with a sanding sealer and a top coat of clear lacquer.
Picture 4 shows the piece, reglued, rewebbed and with the plywood, webbing and glue sandwiched over the metal frame. The springs are getting set for clinching.
In picture 5, springs are set and clinched to the webbing with eight-way ties to the coil springs. It is the only proper way to tie coil springs. It takes longer, but it is worth every knot.
In picture 6, I have the hair and burlap from the original seat placed back in the chaise. I had to rework the hair to a degree, but not a lot. I restitched the edge roll back to its original form. I needed more of a crown seat, so once the springs were tied down in place I added more hair. I added hog and horse hair with a little sisal pad mixed in.
Picture 7 shows that once the hair was stitched down, I added heavy duty cotton and muslin.
Pictures 8 and 9 show that I rewebbed the back and arm, and then placed back springs and arm springs. I then clinched and tied them and put back the original hair. Because this was a hand-tufted piece, it was hard to keep the hair from collapsing as I upholstered. The hair was four inches to five inches thick.
I then put in the arm and tufted it. The seat was upholstered and the back hair was layered with fresh cotton. Holes were punched for the buttons in the tufting.
In picture 10, I am putting in the tufted back. The tufting on this piece starts at the top of the back. This was slow going to get the tufts perfect and straight across. The fabric was pieced three times across the back, with two 54-inch widths and one 30-inch width.
The finished product (pictured at far left) was a masterpiece, if I must say so myself. I had been in this business 30 years before I came upon this piece. It is one of the oldest pieces I ever had the privilege to work on, and it is to this day the nicest piece I have ever done—and I have rebuilt a lot of antiques.
From start to finish took seven working days, eight to 10 hours a day. It took eight yards of green velvet.
I enjoyed every minute of rebuilding and restoring the Turkish chaise to its original period. I walked away knowing that it had every bit of its original padding, hair and springs from over 140 years ago. And that was reward enough for me.
The eight yards of fabric and labor came to $1,200. I know you are thinking that if all the other shops were charging more than three times that much, then why so cheap? Because the other shops really did not want the job. The customer wanted to keep all the original materials in the restoration, and those shops did not have an upholsterer qualified to restore it properly.
I really didn’t make any money on the piece. But sometimes you come across a piece you know you have to tackle no matter what the cost. It’s for the love of the trade.
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6:28 pm CST
they didn't want the job ?
on photo yes it looks ok, but you didn't explain the foam overlay and we did not see any springs go in to the back. no their quotes were accurate if not conservative. your price for two weeks work effectively would run a business in to the ground even sooner after paying tax on that. i congratulate you on taking it on and doing the right thing for the client well done.
1:21 pm CDT
please explain
I do not understand the spring job and I do not understand the foam wrapping the period cake.
thank you
6:11 am CDT
novice upholsterer
Ron, Your Turkish Chaise photos are an inspiration - the compleated lounge is beautiful!! -
My huband and I are upholstering a chaise lounge for the fun and challenge of it -
We have stripped ours to a skeleton and were excited and encouraged to read your work descrition and see the photos - wish we could send you some photos of our "project" just for interest
This is our first attempt and we are loving it!!!
Genivive
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