My Douro chair from Christopher Clarke Antiques Ltd. arrived yesterday morning, and I shot this short video of the unpacking and assembly process.
The chair’s mechanism is exceedingly simple and ingenious, and I’m excited about building a version for my own travels. It won’t require any custom hardware as best I can tell.
The table/crate is enormous – tall enough to eat off of or work as a desk (in a pinch). And it is built like a tank. The corners are reinforced with iron. The hinges and lock are built for heavy service.
The chair itself is quite comfortable – like a Morris chair with springy armrests.
Enough gloating. I have work to do.
— Christopher Schwarz
Any chance we might see a version of this in a future book or PW article?
I am working on a second book on campaign furniture. A version of the Douro might be in it. I’ll need to build a few to get a feel for it.
Does anyone else find it ironic that it was shipped in a crate?
Thank God that crate wasn’t full of packing peanuts! It would have taken him all night to clean those up!
The perfect furniture for the “International Man of Leisure.” Complete comfort no matter where you travel. Bravo!
Bourbon & Wally–two of my favorite things.
Wally thought about helping. Then ran like a chicken.
Mine always flee when Dad starts staggering around with large objects. It’s a cat thing.
A cat that ran like a chicken. You’d need bourbon after that!
What’s the weight in the crate?
Also, we’re going to have to get you a real shot glass like grownups use.
No clue what the weight is. Maybe 60 or 70 pounds.
Absolutely Love It-I want to build one!
Very cool. The ending made me laugh and marvel at what a hipster Chris is. I look forward to the books. Two years ago we moved into my condo and I did a massive purging of book shelves to make room for the rest of my family. My wife now watches me with amazed frustration as I fill them out with Lost Art Press books. I don’t care, she has her shoes and I have my books.
Hipster? In Kentucky, bourbon comes out of the taps.
Y’all are way behind the times.
When you get a chance (Ha!), can you share dimensions and details about the box-table? I envision building a version that can hold two (or more) version of the “standard” roorkhee chairs.
The box is 13-1/2″ x 35″ x 27″. It’s a crate with iron corners all around. I’ll eventually get around to a close study of it, but I’ve got three deadlines pressing down right now.
This will tell you everything you need to know about packing boxes and crates:
https://blog.lostartpress.com/2012/04/18/other-packing-boxes/
Apologies.
No apologies required. Much appreciated!
Very cool chair. What kind of blade do you carry?
I have a French one that I picked up for cheap in Europe. Laguiole. They are pricey here…
http://www.laguiole.com/index.php?language=en
Sweet! Thanks!
These blades below are made in France but they have a USA distributor. The blades come in high carbon or stainless. The carbon blades come very sharp, but if you have a strop and some emery you can get it sharp enough to shave a gnats a**. Very inexpensive.
http://www.opinel-usa.com/
When does the building of your version commence? (By the way, an old broken analog clock set to 5:00pm would look right at home on the table next to the bourbon.)
Perhaps the next book will grant you a belt. Ha! Looks great.
I have a belt on.
Perhaps the next book will allow me those buttock implants my poor wife has dreamed about.
Lovely chair, I look forward to seeing the ones you make.
What’s the source of the tune for the video?
Black Twig Pickers. “Smokers Wedding March.”
http://freemusicarchive.org/search/?quicksearch=black+twig+pickers
Thank you kindly, I’m always on the lookout for unfamiliar old time acts.
HD video is much appreciated.
Great background music!
I am sure the chair was spendy, but how much did it cost to ship it from the UK and how long did it take?
It took less than a week. Packing and shipping was 500 pounds.