THE COLLIGNON CHAIR GALLERY

Here are the chairs found from every corner of the world. How they got to their final location would be the real story. Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Novelty, Open, With Cane Seat And Back (This Back and Seat not original, cane)

This chair originally belonged to my great grandfather George Davis and was his desk chair The patent date is September 19, 1868. He was a County Supervisor in the 1880's in Bozeman Montana. My grandfather was born in 1880. Around 1903 my grandfather's family moved to San Diego, CA. via covered wagon and the chair came along. My great grandfather passed away in 1930 and the chair passed to my grandfather Evan V. Davis. My grandfather inherited the chair while living in San Bernardino California in 1930 and it became his desk chair. He was a Portrait Photographer by trade. In 1948 he retired and he and my grandmother, Irma Keply Davis moved to Pasadena, CA. My grandfather passed away in 1974 at the age of 94. The chair remained at the desk with the only telephone in the house and was used every day until the death of my grandmother in 1982. As the only heir, the chair came to me in the city of Fontana, CA where I serve as a Council Member.

This chair is now in Okmulgee, OK. My Dad has related to me that the chair was bought by an Uncle or Great-Uncle (he doesn't know which) of my mother, Elsie Kate Marie Rebenklau Nicholayeff who passed away in October of 1999 at the age of 87. Her Uncle probably traveled aboard the steamship Cunard from around Worms, Germany in the late 1800's. He apparently was a seasoned traveler even before he migrated to the US. My mother was born in Barryville, NY, raised on Flatbush Ave, and when she married my Dad, they moved to Lake Rogerene, NJ. That is about 11 miles from Dover and about 4 from Succasunna. My parents moved to Flemington, and then to Florida. My dad currently resides in Florida.

This child's rocker has been in my family for many many years. I will hand it down to one of my daughters, and they will pass it along also. It's in tremendous shape. I'll always have fond memories of it sitting on the hearth of my Grandma's fireplace. Now it is sitting in front of my fireplace. My Grandmother was a MacMinn, who lived in upstate NY (Saratoga area), My maiden name is Feulner, I was born and raised in that same area. I live in the Augusta, GA area.

Deborah Stange

Collignon Child's Rocker

March 10, 1868 - November 16, 1869

Great info. I inherited my Collignon folding chair w/Collignon's Patent July 11, 1871 stamped on under side of seat. The seat is only 14 1/4" from floor & top of the back is 29 1/2" from floor. Allegedly it was made for my step-mothers grand-mother who was very small. The chair could be used by a child. I would consider the chair in excellent condition. The finish looks untouched & the cane seat is in excellent condition leading me to believe that it might have been replaced at some time in the early 1900's. We live in Kerrville, TX.

This is a Collignon Folding Brace Sewing Chair Open With Cane Seat And Spindle Back.

The rocker, I believe, was bought by my great Aunt Bess ( Griffin ), who lived in the Cragmere section of Mahwah, but had lived in NYC and/or upstate and in Ridgewood NJ . At some point she gave it to my mom (because I loved it, I think) and it became a treasure in our Ramsey Victorian on Church Street . The chair was recaned many years ago by a blind craftsman in northern NJ that my folks used several times. I was born in NYC, but we moved to NJ in 1951 when I was five. Mom lived there until 2001, ten years after my dad passed on. I took quite a few of mom’s treasures and the rocker was one I had forgotten I had until I was cleaning my basement in prep for a long awaited yard sale. I wanted to find out more about the rocker and finally discovered the imprint on the bottom—and that led me to your fascinating web site—the only place I found mention of these great pieces. Needless to say, the rocker did not make the yard sale.

My chair certainly has travelled a long way as I live in Lisnagry Co Limerick in Southern Ireland and I have no idea how it got to here but I bought my chair in and auction rooms in Roscrea Co Tipperary which is about 40 miles from Limerick where I live. The chair was a bit of a sorry sight - covered in a black bitumen paint and upholstered in a sort of tapestry cloth that had seen better days but there was something appealing about it. I started to strip the chair to upholster it and I discovered it was a cane chair as I stripped off the bitumen paint I realized that my chair was was made of walnut and had a stamp which read Collignon bros. patented 1876. The chair was in surprisingly good condition with literally no damage to the wood work all it needed was cane work and to be French polished which took me a few years to restore as I had to learn how to do both of these tasks. D.R.