Bog Oak Curved-back Armchairs for Sale

Over the last year, Christopher Schwarz and I have been making our way through the last of the bog oak boule we split between us. To date, it’s been used for tables, sculpture and a bunch of chairs. As I wrap up my final two chairs from this ancient and preserved tree, Chris has been kind enough to help let the world know these two pieces are for sale.

The price is $2,800 a piece, or $5,000 for the pair, plus shipping for anyone living outside of a 150-mile radius of Cincinnati. Here’s a quick run-down on these two chairs:

• They’re both made from the darkest parts of a bog oak tree sourced from M. Bohlke Lumber, originally imported from Poland. We had a sample of the tree sent to a lab for radiocarbon dating; it’s 2,175 years old. One of the chairs is exceptionally dark, almost charcoal-like in some areas.
• The design is modified from the curved-back armchair from Chris’s “The Stick Chair Book” (Lost Art Press).
• The most obvious design change is the addition of a medial stretcher to the leg assembly. I think this addition not only gives the chairs additional strength, it also makes them feel more grounded and balanced with the upper part of the chair. All the undercrriage parts are joined with through-tenons.
• The legs are hexagons, rather than octagons, and gradually taper to round at the top.
• The seat has curved sides, rather than straight ones in the original plan. I find this to be a nice visual complement to the curves in the arms.
• The underside of the seat has a curved bevel with a recessed edge to make the seat appear thinner.
• I’ve pinned the back ends of the arm supports to their supporting sticks for extra strength.
• The backrest is made from sequential bent lamination to create a consistency in grain and color across the entire part. The curved profile is intentionally heavier towards the top.
• All of the edges have a heavy roundover for maximum comfort.

If you’re interested in purchasing either one or both, DM me on Instagram @BrownellFurniture, or email me at allenworb@gmail.com.