Lost Art Press

Sold: Comb-back Stick Chair

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Update: The chair has been claimed.

I’ve just completed this comb-back stick chair in oak with a blue-green paint finish and am offering it for sale for $1,200 plus domestic shipping.

The chair is based on the Scottish Darvel chair, and it is designed for dining or keyboarding. The seat is 17” off the floor, and the back tilts at 15°. The overall height of the chair is just under 42”.

Construction features of this chair:

  • The stretchers are pitched low on the legs, giving the chair an old-school stance.
  • The legs are joined to the seat using tapered and wedged tenons. The more you sit on the seat, the tighter the joints become.
  • All joints are put together with hide glue, so the chair is easily repairable by future generations.
  • The arm and comb are steambent oak with no short grain.
  • The oak seat is gently saddled by hand, like many vernacular chairs. 
  • All surfaces are finished with edge tools (planes and scrapers). So all the surfaces feature fine facets.
  • The finish is a hand-brushed and durable acrylic paint.

This design is one of the chairs featured in my forthcoming “The Stick Chair Book.” 

Purchase Information

Send an email to fitz@lostartpress.com. Ask as many questions as you like, but the first person to say “I’ll take it” gets it. The price includes a custom wooden crate and packing. Shipping is via common carrier. Typically shipping runs $100 to $200, depending on the destination. Delivery is free within 100 miles of Cincinnati. You can also pick the chair up at our storefront.

— Christopher Schwarz

14 thoughts on “Sold: Comb-back Stick Chair”

  1. That’s a really good looking chair and I love the color.
    Was this chair on display at yesterday’s open house? If so, I unfortunately overlooked it.

    And speaking of the open house yesterday – Thanks! It was nice to be able to drop in briefly and get to walk around the Roubo from the Anarchist Workbench book. And score a great deal on a “blemished” copy (what blemish?) of the Cut & Dried book; what a fantastic book! The pages on how to cut down a tree make me appreciation even more the lessons my father & his step-father taught me on the process; his writing sounded much like my grandfather. Loving this book.

    Again thanks for holding the open house; it was nice to have a few quick chats with a other wood workers in that environment and I look forward to seeing the clock in December (hopefully).

  2. Hello Chris

    I know this is probably the wrong thread on which to ask this question, but the comments on ‘The Stick Chair Book’ are closed.

    So, you mention access to a pdf copy for pre-orders, but I am in the UK and buy your books from Classic hand Tools; am I able to access a pdf copy as well?

    Kind regards – John

    1. Hi John,

      We have not found a way to do that that is equitable to retailers and us. We have tried in the past, but it didn’t work out. Sorry.

  4. This post should be called “Portrait of Woodworking Nirvana in High Definition”

    Make what you want, how you want, out of what you want, taking as much time as you want, and post on your own blog for free with a single photo you took yourself only to have it sell for virtually any price you could name in about five minutes. Truly glorious.

    Oh and great chair (of course!).

      1. Yeah I’m glad to see you’re getting a fair price for this one.

        Someone told me a story that I’m not sure is true, but apparently there’s a kayak hanging in Sam Maloof’s house that was given to him. I guess the guy was selling kayaks for like $300 and Maloof told him to sell them for $10,000 or something crazy, but it worked and the guy made a living from it.

        So next time ask $12,000…. And then when it sells, send me a chair.

  5. I seem to remember that James Krenov had very similar thoughts … the perennial problem of people not valuing such things properly.

  6. I saw that chair at the open house last weekend. It was beautiful, the sheen and color of the finish shows the hand tool marks off in a really subtle way.

  7. Oh, I wanted to say regarding the Open House. LAP are wonderful hosts. My wife asked about the old books in the back room, and Christopher eagerly showed her the Roubo book in french that he used for the translation to english and explained how they printed it and the type of paper etc. It made her day, and it was way cool.

  8. Any chance you could do a blog on making the crate and packing up the chair for shipment? I know it will involve plywood, etc. However, I don’t see much info on how to do a good job shipping fine furniture. Many thanks.

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