French Country · Encyclopedia · The Cabinetmakers' Work
Alsatian chair
A narrow chair with splayed legs that completed the benches around the table in the main room without taking much space. The heart that lightens its back is a constant of Alsatian folk art.
French: siège alsacien · Alsace · 17th-century decoration
At a glance
- Region: Alsace
- Construction: plank seat, splayed legs, carved back
- Date clue: a seventeenth-century inscription on the central decoration
- Motif: heart, not always a sign of marriage
What it is
The traditional Alsatian chair has a solid plank seat, legs splayed for stability and a shaped back board, often pierced or carved. The example in the book is narrow so that it could join the benches around the table in the main room without taking too much space.
The heart motif
The heart appears constantly in Alsatian folk art. The book cautions that it is not necessarily a sign of union or marriage here: its slightly tilted point simply lightens the back. The central decoration is dated to the seventeenth century by its inscription, but the back was carved further at a later date.
Collecting and using one today
Inscriptions and dates are attractive but can be later additions. Look at wear on the seat and stretchers and at the age of the carving compared with the rest.
A pair of Alsatian chairs brings character to a kitchen table or a hall.
Source: Les Trésors de France: vieux métiers et objets d'autrefois (Éditions Rustica, Détours en France collection, 1995), pp. 124–129, with general background on the object. The book was published in 1995, so workshops, people and figures are described as they were then. Regional names and dates are given as the book records them; a style or a region of origin does not by itself date an individual piece.