Frank S. Harden Rocking Chair (ca.1930)

I am currently working on three pieces for a customer. They are an arm chair, a rocking chair, and a sofa. I decided to post each one separately to detail their histories and the work done to them. All three pieces are being reupholstered so I will be writing the final posts for these pieces after they are returned from the upholsterer.

The first piece is a rocking chair manufactured by the Frank S. Harden Company of McConnellsville, New York. The design of this rocker is pretty common, but I thought that the story of the company was interesting.

The Harden Furniture Company has operated as a family owned business since 1884 and is still in operation today. For more information on the company here are two links. the first is a brief history of the company and the second is a link to the company website.

http://shopncfurniture.com/hardenfurniture.cfm

http://www.harden.com/

The finish on the rocking chair is in good condition, so it will not be removed. In the following pictures you can see the rocker during the process of the upholstery removal. There is also a photo of the label for the chair which I found connected to the seat frame.

I emailed the Harden Furniture Company a photo of the chair and they replied that the chair was made sometime between 1925 and 1940. I read that the company changed hands from father to sun around 1930 so I would put the date circa 1930.