A pretty new chair has joined the family at Pollyanna’s Antiques, and she has all the quiet dignity you’d expect from a true Victorian. This antique Victorian side chair combines a richly carved wooden frame with an oval floral needlepoint seat, the kind of small, graceful piece that earns its place in almost any room.
The frame is solid wood, dressed in the incised carving and crisp geometry that Victorian craftsmen loved. A scrolled crest rail tops a center splat carved in a tapered urn shape, flanked by slender side stiles and finished with turned spindle legs linked by simple stretchers. It’s restrained where Victorian furniture often went exuberant, and that restraint is exactly what makes it so easy to live with.
The seat is the showpiece. A round of needlepoint stitched in soft pinks, blues, and greens carries a delicate floral bouquet at its center, set against a creamy linen ground. The handwork is the kind of slow, patient craft that almost no one does anymore, and yet here it is, ready to keep on quietly doing its job for another century.
Picture her tucked beside a small writing desk, holding a stack of books in a reading nook, or pulled up to a vanity to play her best role of all. She’s also wonderful as an accent chair in a hallway, where she can hold a folded throw or simply wait, looking lovely, for someone to sit and slip on their shoes.
Stop in and meet her in person at Pollyanna’s Antiques in downtown Mt. Clemens, open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM.