I inherited several chairs from each side of the family. I cherish them all because each one holds special memories for me.
True story. I ended up with two matching chairs. One belonged to my maternal grandmother and is actually a rocker. The other belonged to my paternal grandmother.
My Aunt E always called them cricket chairs. I did a little research to learn about cricket chairs. She was correct. I found a very similar chair to my grandmother’s chair on houzz.com for $295. Fully restored, painted and recovered, it really was a cute chair. According to the vendor, WingBack LLC, that has the chair for sale, “This well known chair style is called the “Cricket Chair” made in the l940’s.”
Merriam-Webster defines a cricket chair as “a small armchair or rocker usually of maple with turned legs and posts, a padded seat and a back cushion, and usually a cloth skirt dropping down from the seat cushion.”
I have decided to paint mine white and recover them with matching fabric. My Grandmother Lawrence’s rocker still has the original fabric on it. I had had my Grandmother Price’s chair refinished and recovered in a white and red dotted fabric that matched a guest bedroom several years ago.
Aunt E always said the cricket chair was great for hand sewing, so these two will fit right in in my craft/blog room. I love having that connection to my grandmothers, each of whom enjoyed sewing for their families. I wish I could have spent some time quilting with these ladies. I have some of my Grandmother Lawrence’s quilts, but I do not have any of Grandmother Price’s work. What I enjoy most about seeing Grandmother Lawrence’s quilts is the hand stitching. The length of the stitch, the evenness and spacing…it all comes together to tell a story of her life and her hands. The fabric she chose also tells about the circumstances surrounding the need for the quilt. I have a worn out muslin one that was totally utilitarian, as opposed to a wedding quilt she made for my aunt, which has pretty, bright fabrics in each square. But, I have gotten wayyy off subject (squirrel)!
Have you ever heard of a cricket chair? Did you inherit fun family treasurers? Maybe a few quilts from your grandmom?
