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Friday, July 31, 2009

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.
















6 comments:

  1. Nice blog and nice work! It is great to see someone so committed to restoration. Keep it up and visit us if you are ever in the area. Greg Harden

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  2. searching for some info on the Frank S. Harden Co. as i've inherited 3 pieces of theirs. Any other info or advice on how to date the furniture? thank you! loret792002@yahoo.com

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  3. Hi I have a Frank Harden Love Seat made in McConnellsville NY that I would like to restore. I do not know if the value is there to do this. What do you think? I can send some pictures. Sincerely, Phil Vuilleumier prv1943@gmail.com

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  4. Hi I have a Frank Harden Love Seat made in McConnellsville NY that I would like to restore. I do not know if the value is there to do this. What do you think? I can send some pictures. Sincerely, Phil Vuilleumier prv1943@gmail.com

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  5. Hi, I have a beautiful solid wood rocking chair made by Frank S. Harden Co. It's very comfortable and has an alladin lamp carved into the back support. I called the company, sent a picture and they said it was probably made before cameras were invented, because it does not appear in any of tbeir catalogs. I would like to find out what it might be worth before selling or insuring it. Would you have any ideas for me? Thank you!

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  6. I have a chair with a tag label number 18 R. Refinishing it and having it reupholstered next week.

    ReplyDelete