Trio of Early 19th Century Irish Country / Vernacular Painted Carpenter's Chairs

For sale are a charismatic trio of Irish country chairs in the carpenter made design. - These great examples of painted Irish country furniture are in un-meddled with and solid antique condition. - All three have an 'over-sized' back rest typical of the so-called Carpenter’s chairs* in an extended top rail. - They then have a back rail as a cross splat (and are sometimes referred to as bar back chairs). - The legs are connected by four stretchers with the front and rear ones being raised and showing great age and wear from use. - The seats are nailed boards and all three chairs are painted with a brown with a hint of reddish tinge. - The rear legs are slightly curved to the rear and the uprights are rounded on their rear surfaces. - Constructed likely with pine/deal beneath the traditional original brown paint. Great untouched condition with lovely wear and paint cracking. One chair in the photos is left in the condition they arrived to W&W Antiques in and the other two have been wiped clean of dust and dirt with a damp cloth as shown. - They are all in great solid and useable condition, one over-sized back rail has a split as shown in the photographs but does not affect its use. A great deal of Irish country furniture was painted for protection and could be easily renewed to incorporate a new colour scheme in a home. The vernacular furniture tradition in Ireland developed much later than in England and Wales. The poverty and destruction brought by the wars of the 17th century meant that furniture was not common in rural Irish homes in this period. However, by the late 18th & early 19th centuries Ireland saw an increase in the overall wealth of the country population, which, along with an increase in the number of skilled craftsmen and the supply of cheap, imported pine, led to furniture becoming available to more of the rural population. Local carpenters, joiners and wheelwrights were the main makers of solid wooden furniture of great utility as these chairs are testament to. A household’s furniture was well cared for as assets and often passed down from one generation to another. Most furniture was painted; this helped to protect the timber in damp conditions and made the item more attractive. Painted furniture was also easier to keep clean. Dressers and presses could be painted up to twice a year, therefore they often have many layers of paint, showing the change in fashion for different colours through the years. Country or vernacular furniture is sometimes primitive in its form. It has a tendency to appear a little bit rugged, a little bit unsophisticated and at the same time provides a considerable amount of honest and simple charm. *Kinmonth, C. (2020) Irish Country Furniture and furnishings 1700-2000. Cork University Press. **The coopers tool box is not included in this sale and is for scale and context only.