Are Johnson chairs a mecklenburg county Virginia an oddity?

Answer 1

Yes. they were made around 1820 - 90. in a small Johnson family factory in Wrightman, in Mecklenburg County, Va.. Others were probably made in surrounding counties and in NC. They have particular idientification characteristics: a particular finial with a mushroom & button at the top, two incised rings on the posts, at the bottom of the finial called the wedding ring, also a particular incised ring on the posts just below the upper slat. They were usually made of maple and sometimes of walnut. They are not very tall, but very sturdy. The seats are woven of oak strips. There were approximately 25,000 made during the mid and late 1800s. My source: Va. Living Magazine, April 2007. I lived in Boydton, county seat, for a few years and came to love these little chairs and own two. I hear they have become collectors' items. The Museum of Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, NC would be another source of information.